


Back From The Dead

by Cheriluvs10



Category: Fleetwood Mac (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Drama, F/M, RPF, Real Life, Romance, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-11-01 06:56:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 115
Words: 162,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheriluvs10/pseuds/Cheriluvs10
Summary: Fleetwood Mac AU. Thirty years ago, Mick, John, Christine, Lindsey, Richard and Ken vanished without a trace leaving Stevie to try to carry on without them. But Stevie will soon learn the bizarre true behind her friends and lover's disappearance and it will completely change her world.





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue 

It's hard to believe it's been thirty years. 

Thirty years ago, my life turned upside down when my ex lover and my friends vanished off the face of the Earth. All of my band mates plus Richard and Ken, gone without a trace. No ransom note, no threatening phone calls ordering me to pay money for their safe return, no dead bodies, nothing. Just...gone. 

For five years, me, the police, my family and friends and their family and friends conducted an exhaustive search. We searched everywhere we could think of, interviewed a ton of people, tried to imagine where they might have gone or who had them but every lead ended in a dead end. After five years, the police gave up and their families decided to declare them legally dead since they thought after five years, one of them would have made contact if they were still alive. I didn't want to do it, I held out hope that they would be found, even after the funerals were held with empty coffins and life moved on. 

Now after thirty years, even I'm forced to admit that they are dead. And wherever they are, a part of my heart is buried with them. Over the years, I have tried to be a part of their families, helping keep an eye on them and helping Mick and Ken's children monetarily when I could and being there for them. When Ken's daughter Colbie became a singer, I helped promote her career and even included her as an opening act on one of my tours. She's a Grammy winning success now and my hope is Ken is watching her from the other side and being a proud papa. 

My poor friends and Lindsey. God, I hope they didn't suffer. That's the worst part of all this. Not knowing exactly what happened to them. Did they die right away or were they held for awhile somewhere and tortured before being killed. 

When they vanished, I'd been taking Klonopin and I developed an eight year addiction to it, partly because numbing my mind quelled the nightmares of the people I love screaming in agony and suffering before they died. I finally found the strength to live life without numbing myself but it hasn't been easy. Even though the nightmares became less frequent with the years, they still come from time to time and I always wake up shaking and sweating and I can't get to sleep afterwards. Its so tempting to turn to booze or drugs to cope but I won't do that. I'm too old to be a wino and a junkie anyway. 

But today is the anniversary. Not only of their disappearance but also the day Lindsey left the band. That's another thing that hurts. The last time I saw my darling, he was getting in his car and driving away from Mick's house in a rage. My last interaction with him was an angry one. I longed for him to be alive so I could tell him I never meant the awful words we said that day or the anger. I love him so much, I love them all. 

I can't understand why they all disappeared but according to Diane, Ken's wife, Ken left that evening at Mick's request to go talk to Lindsey at a downtown bar, to try to talk him back into the band, even though he was no longer a producer for them. The others were apparently asked by Mick to do the same thing. Ken kissed his wife and daughters goodbye that evening, left the house and never returned. Mick did the same with his wife and daughters, kissed them goodbye, told them he'd be back in a few hours and never returned. 

The police interviewed the bartender on duty at the bar that night and he said he remembered them sitting together at two tables that had been pushed together. They'd been drinking beers and arguing with Lindsey when a group of men and women came over to their table and started talking to them. He heard them telling the strangers to fuck off and all of them left fuming. An hour later, Lindsey and my friends left the bar and apparently left the planet. They tried finding the strangers who talked to them and they also were never seen again. Oh, the bartender also said the strangers were very pale and goth looking, dressed in black and leather and crap like that. Weirdos who I'm betting are responsible for all this. Damn them to Hell, whoever they are. 

So like I said, today's the thirtieth anniversary and I'm going to celebrate by visiting their gravesites and sending a silent but hopeless prayer to God that he'd be merciful and grant me a miracle and bring the people I love back to life and back to me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

Ah man, look at her. Poor Stevie. 

Yeah, it's the anniversary tonight.

Anniversary of what?

Our turning.

It is? I didn't notice.

Yeah, that's why she's crying, I'm guessing.Man, I wish we could go to her. Let her know we're here.

Why don't we?

Why? You really have to ask that?

It's been thirty years, hasn't it? She doesn't have forever. Look at her, she's in pain. She deserves to know the truth.

And the truth wouldn't bring her more pain? 

Lindsey, you need to go to her.

So do you, Rich, you were close to her too. Why aren't you knocking on her door?

Because I'm not the one she needs to see.

Yeah, I'm the one she needs to see after what happened between us thirty years ago.

That's ancient history, man. She's forgiven you by now. Go talk to her.

Shouldn't we just let sleeping dogs lie? I mean, what if we put her in danger by revealing ourselves. Maybe in this case ignorance is bliss. Besides. If Suzanne finds out that I've contacted her...

Oh, fuck Suzanne, that stupid bitch. What's she gonna do? We never talk to her anyway, Lindsey, and neither do our friends. She'll never find out.Okay, maybe not but I'm still willing to bet Stevie won't be pleased when she sees us. I mean, look at us. Wouldn't you be upset, Rich?Yeah, but if we explained...If we explained, she might be scared and run from us. No, I think it's better to let her think we're gone from the Earth. Better for her that way.What about the others?The others would agree. Has anyone else come forward in the past thirty years. No one's contacted anyone close to them. Why should Stevie be any different? Because you love Stevie. We love Stevie. She belongs with us.You mean, turn her?No, I mean let her be a part of our lives. Let her make the choice. Quit assuming she wouldn't understand. We've already let too many people die without telling them the truth. And if she wants to be embraced, let her make that choice. She's a grown woman. Then go, Rich. Knock on her door. Show yourself and let her see what you've become. See if she understands...Shhh, quiet...she's coming outside.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStevie slid open the patio door and she, Karen and Sulamith stepped out into the warm night air. Karen heaved a heavy sigh when she saw her boss look up at the stars, tears rolling down her face. She knee why she was crying. Stevie had explained the significance of this night to her the first time the date rolled around after she was hired as her assistant. She knew tonight was the thirtieth anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's disappearance. She remembered hearing about it when she,was a little girl. It had been big news and there'd been a massive manhunt with friends, family and Stevie all pleading for their safe return. She never imagined shed ever end up working for Stevie and driving her every year to their graves so she could lay flowers on them and talk to their spirits, as she put it. She always went to Lindsey's grave last and she spent more time with him than everyone else, crying and asking God to bring him and everyone else back. It was heartbreaking for Karen to watch and she always dreaded this day every year.Now, as she stood near Stevie, she could see her lips moving as she stared up at the sky and she knew she was mouthing another prayer for a miracle for their return. She wished they would return but somehow she doubted it after thirty years. Suddenly, Sulamith, who had been sniffing around the yard, began barking and ran over to the big tree that was near the house. Karen sighed as the dog leapt up, put his front paws on the bark and barked upwards while she watched something in the limbs far above."Sulamith always does that," Stevie said to Karen as she pointed to her dog. "Like something's there.""Probably a squirrel or something," Karen said. "Sulamith, come! Come here!"But Sulamith continued to bark frantically at something in the tree. Stevie frowned. She walked off the patio and walked over to the tree. Her house was surrounded by high stone walls with security cameras everywhere and an alarm system. Plus she lived in a gated community where everyone had to check in with a guard at the front gate. She was certain no one was on the property but Sulamith was acting like it.She stopped at the foot of the tree and looked up, trying to see what her dog was seeing. But all she saw was a bunch of large limbs, small branches and dense leaves everywhere. Add to that no moon tonight and she couldn't see anything. She stared hard, trying to make out any odd shapes or movement but still no sign of anything. She shook her head."Come on, Sulamith, leave the squirrel alone," Stevie said to her dog, which was now whining while gazing up into the tree. "Sulamith, come!," Stevie said, slapping her leg.Sulamith reluctantly followed Stevie away from the tree. As Stevie, Karen and Sulamith went back inside, two pairs of eyes watched them from the darkness of the treetop while breathing a sigh of relief.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

"Take care, Karen, and I'll see you tomorrow."Stevie hugged her assistant while they stood at the front door. 

Sulamith was behind her mistress, wagging her tail. Stevie noticed that her dog seemed eager to go back out to the tree. She wondered about that. Her dog had gone out there several times in the past and barked at that tree but only at night, which seemed strange to her. If it was a squirrel, why would Sulamith only be interested in it at night? She'd tried several times in the past to see what was in the tree, both day and night, but she couldn't see anything apart from a few birds. What her dog was seeing was a mystery.

Karen left and Stevie shut the door. But Sulamith continued to stay by the door, whining to go out. Stevie stared at Sulamith, perplexed. 

"What are you seeing that I don't?," she asked, bending down to rub Sulamith's back. 

Sulamith turned at the feel of Stevie's hand on her back and she licked her mistress's hand. Stevie smiled and urged Sulamith to come back with her to the living room but the dog turned back to the door and resumed her whining while she pawed at the door. Stevie sighed and gave up as she walked into the living room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lindsey and Richard sat up in the boughs of the tree, watching Stevie through a large plate glass window that was on the side of the house that allowed them access into her living room. From their vantage point, they could see pretty much everything that went on in the living room. They watched while Stevie sat down on her cream colored leather couch that was at the back of the room and pick up the remote control from the table beside the couch. She settled back in the couch and turned on the plasma TV mounted on the wall to her left.

"What's on the boob tube tonight then?," Richard said as they watched Stevie bring up the cable TV menu screen.

"Porn," Lindsey said, nudging his friend. 

Richard snorted.

"You wish," he said to him.

"Maybe it's Game of Thrones night," Lindsey said. " Tits, lesbian kissing and gore galore. Nearly as good as porn."

"No, with our luck, she'll turn to the soap opera channel and watch old episodes of General Hospital or something like that."

"God help us, no," Lindsey said, rolling his eyes while Richard snickered.

They sighed when they heard Sulamith barking loudly followed by Stevie yelling at her dog to be quiet.

"That little furball will give us away sooner or later," Lindsey muttered. "She came over and looked tonight. If we hadn't been wearing black, she would have seen us."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"Richard, if you're so eager for her to see you, go to the door and knock!," Lindsey said, annoyed.

His eyes widened when Richard stood up.

"Wait, you're not really...," Lindsey said, grabbing his arm.

"Yes. I have nothing to hide and I'm sick of skulking in the darkness, watching her from afar. You want to hide, be my guest. I'm sick of..."

He shut up when both he and Lindsey heard a rustling behind them. They looked at each other and looked behind them, tensing their bodies. Then suddenly Christine stuck her head through a clump of leaves.

"Boo!"

"Chris, you asshole," Lindsey said as Christine came up into the tree and sat on a large limb. 

Lindsey was about to sit back down when someone pinched his ass. He jerked his head around and saw Ken below him, giving him an impish grin. 

"Didn't hear me though, did you?" 

"Fuck you, Caillat," Lindsey said while Ken chuckled and moved up beside him to sit beside Christine.

"Mick and John might be along soon, we remembered what tonight is and wanted to check on Stevie," Ken said, gesturing towards her. "How is she?"

"Upset and crying earlier," Lindsey said. "She's calmed down now but her furball nearly gave us away again. And this time, Stevie came to the tree to take a look for herself."

"Is that why you're going to reveal yourself, Rich?," Christine said to him. "Ken and me heard you talking about that while we were coming up. Are you really gonna do it?"

"Are you going to try to stop me if I do?"

"No. I just wonder if Stevie will be comfortable with the truth," Christine said with a shrug.

"Look. I never told my mom or dad and now they're dead. So is John Stewart, Warren Zevon, George Harrison, Bob Welch, Bob Weston and we just lost Glenn last year. I'm sick of standing back and watching my friends and family die without knowing what became of me. I'll be damned if Stevie dies without knowing either. I'm also sick of her marking the anniversary of our disappearance with tears and suffering. I love her too much to let her die without knowing the truth so I'm going to go down there and show myself. You want to come or don't want to come, doesn't matter to..."

"Wait!"

Richard shut up when Ken spoke and held up his hand before he pointed off to his right. Everyone looked where he was pointing and they saw five shadowy figures, dressed in black coming across the lawn towards Stevie's house. The four friends glanced at one another before they all stood up and readied themselves to attack.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Stevie was watching an old episode of What's My Line on the Game Show Network when she saw Sulamith running into the living room, barking frantically as she ran towards the glass patio doors. Stevie sighed in annoyance. 

"You are not going out, Sulamith, so quit..."

Her annoyance turned to terror and she leapt up from the couch when five people suddenly torpedoed through her patio doors, shattering the glass into pieces with a huge boom. She had time to register three things as they came at her en masse. All of them were dressed head to toe in black with black ninja hoods over their faces. The impact made her dog fly across the room and land unconscious near the couch and all of the people seemed to be flying too. 

Then they reached her and Stevie grunted when one of them punched her in the face, sending her sprawling onto the couch. Weakly, she looked up at the five burly figures as they clustered around her. She could see the skin around their eyes as they seized her arms and she noticed it was unnaturally pale, almost cadaver-like. Her mind thought back to the description of the people who had accosted her friends in the bar the night they disappeared and she wondered if these were the same people coming to get her at last. She groaned when the men holding her arms jerked her to her feet. They were going to pick her up when suddenly she heard loud growling behind them.

The men turned to look and Stevie was amazed to see three large wolves standing near the patio door. A brown one, a cream colored one and a black one. The three wolves growled deep in their throats, barring their fangs as they fanned out and slowly came towards them.

"Hold her," one of the men said to one holding Stevie's left arm before he and four of his friends rushed towards the wolves.

The wolves howled and rushed towards them as the last man got behind Stevie and held her against him in a bear hug that nearly suffocated her. Then, to her amazement, the four men morphed into wolves before her eyes and the fight became a heated dogfight as seven wolves tussled with one another, snapping, biting and growling at each other. Stevie stared at the surreal scene and wondered if she was dreaming. 

Then the black wolf broke away from the fight and came towards Stevie and her captor. Stevie was struck by the wolf's beauty, especially its blue eyes. The wolf stopped moving and growled at the man when he seized Stevie's neck 

"Come closer and I snap the bitch's neck," the man snarled at him. 

Then Stevie was amazed when the wolf laughed. A very human sounding laugh.

"You wouldn't kill her, Slavehunter. Not after you went through all the trouble to get here and get her."

Stevie's eyes bulged. The wolf sounded exactly like Lindsey. Now she knew she was dreaming. Knowing it was a dream made her less afraid as she watched the Lindsey Wolf and the man in black stare at one another. Then the Lindsey Wolf chuckled.

"What's so funny?," the man said, narrowing his eyes.

"Your stupidity," Lindsey Wolf said before he looked up at the ceiling. 

Stevie looked up with the man, following Lindsey Wolf's gaze and she was shocked when she saw another man pressed up against the ceiling above them, arms over his chest as he stared down at them. He waved hello at Stevie's captor before he clasped his hands together over his head in a huge fist and dropped like a stone, slamming his fist into the man's skull. The man grunted and Stevie gasped when he let go of her as he fell back into the couch unconscious. Stevie looked at the man on the couch. Then looked at her rescuer and was stunned when he was floating in midair, laying horizontally as if he were laying on his stomach in bed. Even though she was convinced this was a dream, she was still afraid but the floating man had kind eyes and a tender expression from what she could see of his face and as Stevie looked at him, she was sure she knew his eyes from somewhere. 

"Stevie, this way!"

Stevie looked at the Lindsey Wolf who was jerking his furry head towards the patio door. She flinched when she felt the floating man come down and get behind her.

"No, it's okay, I won't hurt you, Stevie," the man said softly in her ear.

Stevie blinked in shock. 

"Richard?," she said, looking over her shoulder. 

Then she looked at his eyes again and she realized why they looked so familiar.

"I'm dreaming," she murmured.

"No," Richard said, shaking his head. "You're not dreaming."

"But..."

"Guys, get her the fuck outta here!"

Now Stevie heard Ken's voice coming from the brown wolf. 

"I'm going insane," Stevie murmured as Richard wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"No, you're not," Richard said in her ear. "We'll explain everything but first, we gotta get you to safety. Don't worry, I got ya."

Stevie gasped when Richard tightened his grip and suddenly they began to rise off the floor togther. 

"Don't worry, I won't drop you," Richard said.

"What's going on, what is this. What the fuck are you?," Stevie said, twisting her head around to look at him.

Richard winked at her. He put his lips to her ear and said...

"I'm a vampire."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

Stevie was stunned into silence for a moment before she tried twisting out of Richard's arms.

"Stevie, don't!," Richard said, tightening his hold on her. "Just relax. We're taking you away from here!"

"Why? So, you can drink my blood?," Stevie said, twisting around to see his face.

Her heart lurched when she realized he had a hurt expression on his face.   
"No, I'd never do that to you " he said softly.

"I'm sorry, Rich, I didn't mean..."

"Rich, come on, before their buddies come," Lindsey said.

"My dog," Stevie said, pointing to Sulamith who was still unconscious.

"They'll get her, Stevie," Lindsey said. "We're more concerned about you right now."

Just then, two more black clad figures entered through the busted door. One of them was extremely tall and Stevie wondered if it was Mick. The two men looked at the remains of the dogfight before they both morphed into wolves and joined in. The taller man was brown and the other man was grey.

"Mick?," Stevie murmured

"Yes. And John," Richard said in her ear. "They came to help. But, hold on, we gotta go."

Stevie was amazed as Richard glided along a foot off the ground while they headed out of the room. Lindsey, still in wolf form, trotted along beside them. On the way out, Lindsey yelled at the others to bring Sulamith and Stevie heard Christine's voice coming from the cream colored wolf telling them they would. Then they went through the busted patio door and Stevie gasped when Richard rose up, going higher up into the air. She looked down and watched the wolf morph back into human form before he followed them into the air.

"Where are you taking me?," Stevie said, looking around at Richard. 

"Our home. You'll be safe there till we can figure out what's going on," Richard said in her ear as they flew off away from her house.

"Where's your home?"

"West Hollywood."

Stevie's mouth dropped open.

"Everyone searched for you guys for years after you vanished and you've been in west Hollywood the whole time?"

"Ah, no, actually we lived underground until we moved aboveground to the house about two years ago," Richard said.

"Underground. In a cave?"

Richard chuckled.

"No. The vampires have a civilization far beneath the surface that's beyond your imagination," he said.

Stevie wondered about that but at the moment they were about two thousand feet up in the air and Stevie thought it might be a good idea not to distract Richard to the point that he dropped her. They were traveling upright at a pretty good speed and Stevie glanced over at Lindsey who was flying along beside her, glancing around while he matched Richard's speed. Lindsey caught Stevie's eye and he winked at her. Stevie smiled back, glad that Lindsey didn't seem to be angry at her anymore.

"After she rests, we should take her to see Nicodemus," Lindsey said to Richard as they flew. "Get his advice on this."

"I agree," Richard said, nodding. 

"Especially since several things about this attack don't make sense."

"Who's Nicodemus," Stevie said.

"A very old and wise vampire," Lindsey said to her. "He and his mate, Nefrure, are the leader of the clan we belong to."

"Huh? Clan?," Stevie said.

Richard chuckled.

"Don't worry, we'll explain in detail," he said to her. "But Nicodemus won't hurt you. He's a kind man unlike the bozos back there."

"Slave hunters? That's what Lindsey called them."

"Yeah," Lindsey said, glancing at her. "Pretty sure that's what they were. Slave hunters are people who kidnap mortals, either for themselves or to sell at auction to other vampires."

"They usually don't target the wealthy or celebrities though," Richard said to Stevie. "They go after poor people, homeless, junkies, people who aren't as likely to be missed. And they never go as far as Malibu, especially since Malibu is filled with wealthy people."

"And that's one of the things that doesn't make sense to you," Stevie said.

"Yes. That and the way they burst into your house, making all that noise. They try to be as quiet as they can. You have neighbors on both sides who might have heard them. That's the last thing they want, witnesses."

Stevie thought about that. She looked at Lindsey who was dressed almost identically to the slave hunters as was Richard. 

"Are you guys slave hunters? Do you do that?," she asked nervously.

"No. We're against slavery," Lindsey said, looking at her. "All of us and our friends. Not everyone hunts for slaves and not everyone supports slavery and the slave trade. But there are enough supporters that no one's been able to abolish it yet."

"Is that what happened to you that night?," Stevie said. "The bartender at the bar said a bunch of pale, goth looking people came up to you guys and started talking to you an hour before you left. Were they...slave hunters?"

"Not sure," Richard said in her ear. "They tried to flirt with us and we told them to fuck off. They got angry, left and his in an alley beside the bar. We all left together and as we passed by the alley, they pulled us all into it, put their hands over our mouths, pressed us down on the ground, drained our blood and turned us before we could die. Then as we were turning, they left us there to change by ourselves."

Stevie swallowed hard, imagining the scene in her head.

"After the change, a newborn vampire is weak and disoriented for about a day," Lindsey said. "Normally, the one who turns them stays behind to help them adjust and mentor them but our attackers didn't do that. So we wandered around for awhile weak and confused until a couple of friendly vampires found us and took us back to their clan house where we got some medical attention and blood. After we recovered, we were welcomed into the clan by Nicodemus and we lived in the clan house until a couple of years ago when we moved into a nice house aboveground."

"All of you live in this house now?"

"Yeah," Richard said. "All of us plus the two vampires that found us. They're names are Benjamin and Frank and a woman who helped nurse us back to health named Felicia. They're the first three friends we made in the vampire world and they've been friends with us ever since. And we also have a three legged dog named Renfield."

"Renfield? Like the guy in Dracula?"

Richard chuckled.

"Yeah. Vampire in joke," he said.

"Why three legs?" Stevie said.

"We were taking a walk one night near the house and found the little guy lying in a ditch by the side of the road. We don't know what happened to him but he had a huge gash down the side of his head and his back left leg had been crushed. We took him to the vet and the vet sewed up the gash but nothing could be done about the leg so unfortunately he had to amputate it."

"Oh God, the poor thing," Stevie said.

"We took him home after that and debated what to do with him. Sell him, take him to a shelter or keep him but in the end Renny won over all of us and he became a permanent member of the family."

"He sounds cute. What breed is he?"

"Jack Russell terrier. At least that's what the vet said. He's not very big but he's very energetic and very affectionate. He'll love ya to death if you let him. So that's our household. And no one will hurt you. We're vampires but not evil. Vampires usually keep the personallity they had when they were mortal so we're pretty much the same people you knew thirty years ago."

"So you're like Edward in Twilight then."

She frowned when both men snickered at that. 

"That's right. You're a fan of those retarded books and movies," Lindsey said.

"Yeah, I am. What's wrong with that?"

"Um, Stevie, most vampires think Twilight is retarded and they make fun of it constantly," Richard said. 

"They do?"

"Yeah because its so far removed from a vampire's real life that its regarded as comedy," Richard said. "There are alot of unrealistic vampire things that mortals have created but Twilight's one of the most unrealistic things ever made about vampires. So if we for take you underground, don't walk around telling everyone you're a huge Twilight fan unless you want the undead laughing in your face."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind, Rich," Stevie said while the men snickered.   
Richard squeezed her gently as they continued to fly on to their destination.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five

Finally, after an hour, Richard and Lindsey slowed down until they came to a stop. Stevie looked down and gulped when she saw the houses and streetlights far below.

"We're here,"Richard said, "but I'm gonna turn you around and you put your arms around my neck. We gotta go down fast so our neighbors don't see us. Lindsey, help me turn her."

Lindsey came close to her and the two men held her tight as they slowly turned her around to face Richard. Stevie put her arms around Richard's neck as he pressed her body tightly to his. 

"Here we go," Richard said.

Stevie gasped when Richard suddenly dropped with Lindsey at such a rapid speed that she thought they would slam into the ground feet first but Richard and Lindsey suddenly stopped about two feet from the ground before slowly going down the rest of the way. They gently touched down and Stevie let go, dropping several more inches since Richard was taller than she was. 

She looked around. They were in front of a large three story Victorian house that was surrounded by a high wooden fence. A small concrete path led from the front gate to the porch. The moon wasn't out but the house looked like it was painted lavender. All the windows including the one in the middle of the wooden front door had heavy curtains covering them.

"Welcome to Casa Nosferatu," Lindsey said with a bow as he gestured to the house. 

"Doesn't look like an old creepy castle," Stevie joked.

"Uh...no," Richard said. "And you won't find coffins inside. Everyone sleeps in beds."

"Good. Because I wasn't going to sleep in a coffin."

Just then, the front door opened and a tall, thin statuesque woman with alabaster skin peered out at them. The woman had long blonde hair that went down to the small of her back. 

"Ugh, thought I heard a couple of losers out here," she said with a grin.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Felice," Lindsey said. "Stevie, this is Felicia, the designated weirdo of the household."

"No, that's you, Bucky," Felicia said. "So you guys finally decided to come out of the coffin to Stevie?"

"Not by choice," Richard said. "She was attacked by slave hunters tonight."

The smile fell off Felicia's face, to be replaced by a concerned look. She stepped out onto the wooden porch and when she did, Stevie saw Renfield peek around the doorway before the dog half walked/half hopped out behind her. The dog was mostly white with a brown head and large brown spot on its back. The dog walked/hopped past Felicia and over to Stevie, wagging his tail in greeting. Stevie smiled, picked him up and smiled when Renfield enthusiastically licked her chin as his tail went a mile a minute. 

"Told ya he'd love on ya," Richard said, patting Renfield's head.

"Are you okay, Stevie?," Felicia said. "I'm a medical doctor so forgive my concern."

"They punched me in the face and knocked me back into the couch but that's about it," Stevie said.

Felicia came close, peering at Stevie's face and Stevie was struck by the contrast of her pale blue eyes and lilly white skin.

"Hmmm, I can see a bit of bruising around your right eye but thankfully it isn't swollen shut. I'm surprised the bastard didn't break your nose. Especially since vampires have enhanced strength."

"Yeah but I'm sure they didn't want her face too messed up, especially if they were going to auction her off."

"Were you resisting them, Stevie?," Felicia asked.

"No, I only had time to jump up from the couch before they reached me."

"Then...why hit you?," Felicia said, frowning.

"Not only that but they busted through a glass door together instead of standing outside and luring her out with the Voice," Richard said. 

"Voice, what Vo..."

Stevie turned to Richard who was behind her and was taken aback when she saw the hood was off his face. He looked the same except his hair was short on the top and in the back and he was wearing round, gold colored framed glasses. He hadn't aged though and his skin was cadaver white. 

"The Voice is what vampires refer to the tone of voice we use to hypnotise mortals," he said. "Its not like you see in the movies where a vampire just stares at someone and says "Obey!", there's a special tone of voice we use. Can't work on other vampires, unfortunately. We're immune to it but mortals aren't, so why they didn't just stand near your patio door, use the Voice and compell you to come to them makes no sense. They should have done that rather than slam through your door."

Lindsey came up beside him. And now he had his hood off too and he looked exactly the same as he did the day he walked out on the band down to his hairstyle. And like Felicia , the contrast between his skin and blue eyes was striking.  
As Stevie looked at them, a pair of black tennis shoes suddenly dropped down in front of her face. She gasped and looked up to see the rest of her friends hovering in the air above her. The one with his shoes in her face was Ken.

"Hi, Stevie," he said, waving at her.

"Ken, damn it, you scared me," Stevie said while the others laughed. 

Ken winked. He shifted to her right side and came down to the ground with the others. They took off their hoods and again, Stevie noticed that everybody looked exactly the same as the last time she saw them. Not a day older. Only Richard looked different with the shorter hair and glasses but he also had not aged a day. Stevie envied that part of being a vampire. 

As they entered the house, Lindsey stopped Stevie before going in and pointed to the side of the house on the right side of the door. Stevie put Renfield down, letting him go in and then looked where he was pointing. She saw a tiny groove about twenty inches from the door frame and when Lindsey put two fingers in it and pulled, a small, hidden door swung open and there was a scanner behind it.

"Hand scanner," Lindsey said to her. "When we moved here, we had a couple of modifications done for our safety. This scanner only accepts the hands of the people who live here. We have one on the back door too. If someone doesn't open the door for you, you have to scan your hand to get in. So, because you don't live here, don't go outside and close the door without one of us or you won't get back inside."

"Gotcha," Stevie said, nodding.

"Showing you this to warn you about that but also to show you that you're safe here. No one can get in here unless we let them in."

"What about the walls and windows though?"

"Been reinforced, making it not impossible to go through but very difficult. And the windows have a special glass in them that blocks UV rays and makes sunlight harmless for vampires. UV light is what kills a vampire, not the sunlight itself."

"So technically, a tanning bed will kill you."

"Yup. If you can find a way to lock me in one."

He paused for a moment in an awkward silence.

"Look, Steves, about that day..."

"I'm sorry, Lindsey," Stevie quickly said. "And I would have apologized even if you hadn't disappeared."

"Well, I was a stupid idiot back then. And I've matured and I'm not filled with rage anymore. Nicodemus actually helped me overcome that. Actually helped us all because we all had anger over our situation and it took awhile to come to terms with what happened and what we became. But I love you, Stevie, never stopped loving you. A vampire is capable of love, believe it or not. We're not all like Dracula. But I'm sorry it took this long to tell you the truth. We debated for thirty years to tell you verses letting you think we were dead. We figured either option would be painful for you but we always thought the thought of us being undead verses being dead was the more painful one and we felt the same for our friends and family so that's why we never told them either. But we all love you, Stevie. We really do. This hasn't been easy for us either, this separation."

"I understand. And it is heartwrenching to see you like this but I'm glad you guys are still here and I'm getting used to seeing you this way."

"Good. And we'll show you more and explain more about our situation. I know its unbelievable but vampires have their own civilization far below our feet, which is why you don't see them, at least not most of the time." 

He hesitated a moment before he took off the leather glove covering his left hand. He put his pale hand up to her face and she gasped at the absolute coldness of it.

"I'm technically dead so no body heat. I'd like to kiss you but it'd be like kissing a corpse."

"I don't give a shit, come here," Stevie said.

She pulled him close and kissed his lips. His cold lips shocked her for a moment but she quickly got used to it as she deepened the kiss. They stood there, snogging each other until they heard Mick chuckling.

"I can't close the door, Ken," Mick yelled back into the house. "Stevie's apparently into necrophilia and I wanna stand here and watch her fuck a corpse!"

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Fleetwood!," Lindsey said as Mick and everyone inside the house laughed hysterically.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six

The first thing Stevie noticed when she stepped inside and Lindsey closed the door behind her was how homey the interior was. It was clean, cozy and pleasant. She was standing in a large living room. The carpet was a dull red color and the walls were painted a charcoal grey. There was a large sofa against the right side of the room made of black leather. There were black wooden endtables on either side of it with black porcelain lamps at either end. On the table nearest her was a large remote control for the plasma TV mounted on the back wall by the door and stacked magazines. Also a couple of black lacquer coasters were on it. Beside the nearest end table, in front of here were two matching leather chairs with a small table between them. The table only had coasters on it. Off to the left was a black leather loveseat and one more matching chair, again with a table between them. Above on the ceiling was an elegant crystal chandelier that lit the room with a bright light. And there was an entrance to the kitchen beside the TV, a doorway at the far left of the room and another doorway beside the chair on the left side that had a staircase going up. Beside the chair on the left side of the room was a small black dog bed with some doggy toys and rawhide chews scattered around it. And on the wall above the loveseat was a large framed photo of everyone. 

Stevie walked over and gazed at it. Everyone was huddled together in a room, the occupants of the house filling up the whole photo. Everyone was smiling and Mick was holding Renfield whose mouth was open and his tongue was hanging out. At the top of the photo were two men she"d never seen before. One man looked to be in his twenties with feathered brown hair and a baby face. The other man looked like he was in his early thirties with very short, brown hair and a more angular face. Both men were handsome and she guessed they were Frank and Benjamin. What brought tears to her eyes though was John in the front was holding a photo of her that had been printed off the internet. Richard was beside him, holding up a small piece of white cardboard next to the photo. The cardboard had an arrow drawn on it with a black marker pointing to the photo and under it in black marker was written, OUR MISSING FAMILY MEMBER. Both John and Richard were looking directly at the camera while they held the photo and the sign. She swallowed back the tears that were threatening to come.

"You were always a part of our family and always will be."

Stevie turned and saw Richard standing behind her. 

"We've always debated whether to tell you the truth or not," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We went back and forth on that. I was about to tell you actually when the welcome wagon showed up."

"You were going to tell me?"

"I was," Richard said, walking up beside her. "I got tired of seeing you sad and depressed and crying and praying for us to come back. I hated it. It wasn't fair to you. You deserved to know the truth, no matter how painful. But the idiots forced our hand tonight, although I suppose we could have used the Voice on you and hypnotised you into thinking it really was just a dream. But I'm glad you're here, Stevie. Its a relief not having to hide from you anymore."

"How did you know I was being attacked?"

"Um...we'd been watching over you all these years, in your tree by your house."

Stevie's mouth fell open. 

"You're what Sulamith was barking at?"

"Um...yeah, your dog figured it out awhile back. Sometimes though, we'd bring along some of Renny's treats and drop them down to her to shut her up. But one or more of us would come each night you were home and keep watch for a few hours to make sure you were safe. We started it soon after our turning out of concern for your Klonopin addiction. We were all terrified you were gonna die so we kept vigil, ready to call 911 if you looked like you were in danger. We were all so relieved when you finally went to rehab but it became a habit, our vigils, so we kept doing it. We'd usually keep watch for a few hours before we went home or went to do other things. 

Lindsey and me started out the night in your tree and then Chris and Ken came along a few minutes before the attack and Mick and John were on their way. We remembered tonight was the anniversary of our disappearance and we were all concerned about you. Normally, it'd only be one or two people a night and we took turns watching, except Ben, Frank and Felice, they didn't know you like we did so they didn't do it.   
But yes, we were undead peeping toms, although we only watched you in the living room. We never followed you to the bedroom." 

"Because you were being courteous?"

Richard chuckled.

"That and we figured the last thing you'd want to see is our cadaver faces staring at you through your bedroom window."

"Yes. I believe I would have shit myself if that happened."

"Yes, we thought so too," Richard said while Stevie chuckled.

He looked over when Lindsey walked up beside him.

"Game's on tonight. So they're ordering pizza with the usual sides," he said to Richard.

"You can eat things besides blood?," Stevie said.

"Yeah. We do need blood to survive but we can actually eat and drink like normal people," Lindsey said. "You're welcome to join us, Steves. We usually order two large pizzas from Pizza Hut. Meat Lovers and Supreme. Plus breadsticks, mozerella sticks and pasta and two liters of Pepsi and Sprite. So we have more than enough for all."

"Thank you. But what game are you watching?"

"The playoffs for the vampire world series," Lindsey said. "LA Wolves verses the Charleston Gravediggers."

"Are you serious? Vampires have baseball teams?"

"Vampires come from all walks of life," Richard said, "and many of them either keep their mortal professions or find new ones. So yes, there are vampire sports teams all over the world."

"Where? Where do they play?"

Her eyes boggled when both men pointed down at the floor.

"I told you, vampires long ago created a civilization far below the surface," Richard said. "All over the world, there are vampire cities that are just as complex as mortal cities and that includes sports stadiums. Not to mention tall buildings, restaurants, theaters, movie theaters, subway system..."

"Wait, there's a vampire subway system?"

The men grinned and nodded.

"Also," Lindsey said, "vampires have their own language, TV shows, movies, newspapers, music, music groups...everything mortals have, vampires have it too."

"Wait. So has Fleetwood Mac been making more music then?"

The men nodded again and chuckled at her surprise.

"And Ken and me co-own a recording studio with a couple of friends in the vampire city," Richard said. "We've produced Fleetwood Mac and some other bands and singers also. So we resumed our careers too, albeit in the vampire world. And now that you know, you could record with Fleetwood Mac."

"Of course, just for the vampire population but we're quite popular among the undead," Lindsey said.

"And we know a few DJs, Ken and me," Richard said. "That Moonlight Vampire song you have. We actually played that for the DJs we know and they liked it and started playing it and your Moonlight song became a major hit. So, you have a hit single you didn't know about."

Stevie grinned.

"You know I based that song partly on Twilight, right?"

Richard raised his eyebrow while Lindsey muttered "Shit, that figures," under his breath.

"Uh...no, I didn't know that and like I said before, if you're smart, you'll keep your mouth shut among vampires unless you want your hit single to quickly become a big joke."

"No. I'll keep my mouth shut about that," she said while Richard chuckled.

"Well, if you'd like, we can give you a quick tour of the house before Pizza Hut comes," Richard said. 

"I'd love to," Stevie said.

"Lindsey, coming with?"

"Yeah, we need to show her the guest room anyway."

"Okay, well...follow us and we'll begin the tour," Richard said.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven

The men led her to the doorway on the far left of the room. Richard entered first and switched on an overhead light. 

"This is just random rooms," Richard said to Stevie as she and Lindsey came through the doorway. "But first room is a bathroom."

He walked to the doorway on the far left and switched on the light. Stevie entered and looked around. The walls were cream colored with white tile on the floor. The toilet was near the door with a large walk in shower beside it with a sliding glass door. Across the way was the sink with wooden cabinets and drawers underneath and a large mirror above. On the counter was a couple of folded black towels and a cream colored soap dish with a used Ivory soap in it. She peeked around the corner at the white toilet. There were a few magazines on the top of the toilet bowl and a framed painting of galloping mustangs above it. 

"You're welcome to take a shower," Richard said. "We can ask Chris if she has some clothes you can borrow before we take you shopping. I'm sure she'd have a nightgown at least."   
Stevie nodded. They left the bathroom after Richard shut off the light and walked to the next room. Lindsey flipped on the light and they entered.

"This is like an office and computer room," Lindsey said. 

There was a large wooden desk in front of a large, curtained window. On it was a computer, printer and scanner. On top of the computer monitor was a video camera. Off to the left were a couple of tall filing cabinets and to the right was a wooden bookshelf. Papers and books were on the shelves and a few framed photos. She walked over and looked at them. One was an old photo of her with her band mates during the Mirage recording. They were standing behind Richard and Ken who were seated at the console and someone had snapped the photo from inside the iso booth. The other one was another group photo of everyone standing together inside the living room. Stevie smiled, staring at the old and new photos, loving the contrast between the two.  
They walked out and Stevie noticed more framed photos lining the wall opposite the rooms. 

"Yes, this is our wall of narcissism," Lindsey quipped, gesturing to the photos. 

Stevie glanced at the photos. They were of the household members, individually or together. The funniest one was Mick dressed as Dracula. He was holding the cape out on either side of him. Beside him, Christine and Felicia were standing, wearing long white nightgowns with zoned out looks on their faces. Beside the frame, someone had taped a piece of paper to the wall. In pen, someone had drawn an arrow pointing to the photo and written DRACULA AND HIS BRIDES under it.

"More vampire humor?," Stevie said to the men as she pointed to the photo.

"Yes, Dracula is another story that most vampires make fun of," Richard said.

"Is there any that don't get made fun of?," Stevie said.

"Anne Rice. Her books are pretty realistic. So they're quite respected in the vampire community. She's at one end of the believability spectrum. Other end is Dracula and Twilight. Everything else falls in between," Lindsey said with a shrug.

Stevie nodded, fascinated with everything she was learning. They walked to the last room and Richard switched on the light. 

"We didn't really know what to do with this room so we finally decided to turn it into a small library," Richard said.

They entered and Stevie saw four large bookcases, two each on both sides of the room with another large curtained window across from the door. Around the window hung framed copies of Fleetwood Mac's albums. The shelves were filled with books, hardback and paperback. Stevie looked at the room a moment more before following them out.  
The other doorway had the staircase in it. Stevie started to go up when Richard turned on the light but Lindsey stopped her and told her to put her arms around his neck. She did and Lindsey held her close to him. Then to Stevie's surprise, he rose off the ground a half foot and started gliding up the stairs while Richard did the same and followed him.

"Why climb the stairs when you can take the escalator?," Lindsey said.

Stevie giggled at that. When they reached the top, Lindsey moved a few feet away from the stairs to give Richard room and both men landed gently on the wooden floor. Across from the stairs were several rooms. They walked to the first one on the far right and Lindsey turned on the light. 

"This is mine and Ken's room " Richard said as they entered. 

There was a twin bed on either side of the room with another window at the back. The bed on the left had a blue comforter and was neatly made. The bed on the other side was also neatly made with a black comforter. Stevie could tell the black comforter bed was Ken's because two framed posters of Colbie were over it. Each bed had a table at the head with a large dresser in front of the window. On Ken's nightstand were framed photos of him, his wife and children along with a couple of books. On Richard's side, his nightstand had a framed photo of his parents and one of him, her and Lindsey when they shared an apartment during the Buckingham Nicks days. Above his bed was a poster. There was a drawing of a snarling brown wolf with blood on his fangs. Written underneath it, WOLF PRIDE in big black lettering. Stevie asked Richard about it and he chuckled. 

"That's the logo of the LA Wolves. I'm a big Wolf supporter," he said to her.

"So you're hoping they'll win the game tonight."

"Hell, yes. And they will too. The Wolves are the top ranking team in the US. Charleston is a bunch of old ladies with penis."

"Speaking of an old ladies with a penis, why are you losers blocking the way to my bed?"

They turned and saw Ken standing in the doorway holding a small plastic laundry basket filled with folded clothes. Everyone moved and he walked to his bed and sat the basket on the bed. He then turned to Stevie.

"Didn't include you in my loser comment," he said, patting her on the head. "Just so you know."

"You know about Colbie?," Stevie said, nodding at the posters of her.

"Of course. I've kept an eye on my family too. And I know what you did for them and Mick knows about his family too. Thank you for looking after them all these years."

"You're welcome. I felt like I had to be a part of your family's life, all your families," she added, looking at Lindsey and Richard.

"Well I know Mom appreciated you being in her life," Richard said.

"And my mom too. But she always loved you like a daughter," Lindsey said. 

"And I'm grateful to you for helping Colb's career along," Ken said.

Stevie's heart swelled with love upon hearing this. She hugged everyone and thanked them. Ken kissed her cheek and went back to putting away his clothes while Stevie left with the others to continue the tour.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight

The next bedroom seemed to belong to the women in the household. As with the other room, this bedroom had neatly made twin beds on either side of the room with a large curtained window on the far wall. Each bed had a nightstand at the head and there were two dressers here. One in front of the window and one beside the door. On the wall above one bed was a framed rectangular poster of London. Someone had stood beside the Thames and taken a photo from across the river of Parliament and Big Ben at night when everything was lit up. Under the photo, LONDON was in big white block lettering. 

Stevie knew this was Christine's side. Not just the poster but also because the bedside table had a framed photo of her and John sitting on the porch together, smiling and holding hands. There was also a birthday card that was opened slightly so it would stand up. Stevie walked over and picked it up. The front was white with two red roses on it. At the top in elegant black cursive lettering was FOR YOU, ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. Stevie opened it. It was a blank card but there was a handwritten message. Stevie recognized the handwriting as John's. 

CHRISSY

ANOTHER YEAR HAS COME AND GONE AND YOU ARE NOW A BIT OLDER, ALTHOUGH YOU WILL NEVER AGE AND YOU STILL LOOK AS BEAUTIFUL AS THAT DAY WHEN OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER. I'M GLAD THAT WE FORGAVE ONE ANOTHER AND REUNITED BECAUSE ETERNITY IS A LONG TIME AND THERE'S NO ONE I'D RATHER SPEND IT WITH THAN YOU. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY BELOVED.

JOHN.

"Chris and John are married again?," Stevie said to Lindsey and Richard when she finished reading the card.

They nodded.

"They don't call it marriage in the vampire world though," Lindsey said. "They call it mating or being mated and your spouse is your mate but its the same concept. So yeah, they fell back in love and they're together now. So John actually sleeps in here too. They sleep on their sides and spoon and then they go to the basement if they wanna do the nasty."

"The basement. They screw in the basement?," Stevie said, amused.

"Yeah, we have a lot of large pillows there for that purpose," Richard said, "It's clean down there and the pillows get washed so no one's screwing anyone in a slimy rat filled pit on stained pillows."

"Well, that's good to know."

Stevie put the card back and looked at the other side. Christine's bed had a white comforter and Felicia's was a soft yellow. Above her bed was a framed medical degree from UCLA and a photo of her standing in a hospital corridor, wearing blue scrubs, a white lab coat over it and a stethoscope hanging around her neck. She was smiling broadly and Stevie could see her skin was a normal pink color instead of cadaver white. 

"Was she a doctor long before she changed?," Stevie said to the men.

"Uh, yeah, several years," Richard said. "I think that photo is at County General. I believe that's where she worked."

"Is she a general doctor or is she like a surgeon or something?"

"I believe she was mainly in pediatrics there but she also works as a general doctor," Richard said. "Vampires don't get sick and we heal rapidly so there's no call for a doctor for vampires but they do have a hospital below for mortals and she works there."

"Do a lot of mortals know about this vampire world?"

"Yeah," Lindsey said. "There are a lot of vampires who let their friends and families know about them. Unfortunately though, there are also slaves and some of the people Felice has treated were slaves."

They nodded when Stevie became angered at that.

"It's legal at the moment so there's nothing anyone can do," Richard said. "Unfortunately, if we take you down to the city, you may see mortals being led around on leashes. It's disgusting but like I said, it's legal right now."

"So the people that end up in the hospital are people that were beaten by their masters?"

"Um...sometimes," Richard said. "Although, the ones that are heartless enough to beat and torture their slaves usually wouldn't he compassionate enough to take them to the hospital afterwards. The slaves that do to the hospital are generally ones that have fallen Ill and their masters do care enough about their wellbeing to take them. Also ones that are giving birth and again, their masters care enough to let them give birth in a hospital."

"Give birth to half vampire babies?"

The men shook their heads.

"No, all vampires are sterile," Lindsey said. "If a slave is pregnant, it's by another mortal. Some vampires "breed" them," he added, making quote marks with his fingers.

Up till now, Stevie had been fascinated with what she had learned but this was revelation sickened her to the very core of her being. It also frightened her that she could have ended up enslaved herself if her friends hadn't been watching over her as diligently as they had. She was also glad none of her friends had slaves or believed in it. 

They started to leave the room when Renfield came to the door. Stevie smiled when the dog wagged his tail furiously upon seeing her and he hopped/walked over to her side.

"Hey, Renny, is there someone new here you can smother to death with kisses and love?," Richard said as Stevie bent over and picked him up.

Stevie laughed when Renfield licked her face the moment he got in range.

"Yup. Renny will definitely kill her with kindness before it's over with," Lindsey said to Richard while Renfield tried his best to lick Stevie's face off.

Just then, Ken was passing by the door. He glanced inside and stopped, chuckling at Renfield's frantic kissing of Stevie's face.

"Ah, I see you've learned about Renny's insane need to lick a hole in your flesh," Ken said to Stevie as he entered the room. 

"Yes, I think our little man is pleased there's fresh meat in the house now," Richard said.

"Your dog is actually in the next room," Ken said, pointing off to the right. "Chris did bring her."

"Oh, thank God, thank you."

Stevie thought for a moment.

"Those men, are they on the loose still?," she said.

"Yeah. Unfortunately. We were getting the best of them but then we heard police sirens and everyone scrambled to get out of there before we were seen. We gave chase once we got outside and got airborne but they managed to give us the slip and we gave up and came home. But I doubt they'll return for a second grab at you, not if they know we're watching. Too much trouble then. They want an easy target."

"Which is why it's odd they tried to take her in the first place," Lindsey said. "They didn't think busting into her home would bring the police? The five of them going through the glass made enough noise to wake the dead, no pun intended," he added, smiling wryly when Richard snickered. "But it makes me glad we made the decision to start watching her in the first place. If we hadn't been there...," he shook the thought out of his mind and put his arm around Stevie before they left the room. 

Ken followed them and went to the last room on the right. He paused at the doorway and pointed inside. 

"This is a bathroom," he said, "which I have to use."

He went in and closed the door while the others entered the room next to it. Stevie gasped with joy when she saw Sulamith lying on the bed on the right side. She walked over to him as Sulamith stood up and walked to the edge of the bed, wagging her tail in greeting. Stevie noticed Renfield had quit paying attention to her and was now looking down at Sulamith, watching while Stevie held him with one hand while stroking her dog with the other hand. Richard and Lindsey walked up beside her, observing the interaction between the two dogs. 

"Not growling at each other," Richard said to Lindsey. "That's a good sign."

"Steves, your dog get along with other dogs?," Lindsey asked her.

"She can. She's pretty friendly. What about Renfield?"

"Well, not sure," Lindsey said, rubbing the back of his head. "We've never had a second dog here before."

Stevie looked at Renfield. He was watching Sulamith calmly while Sulamith sniffed his foot. Stevie carefully sat Renfield down on the bed and she and her friends watched while the two dogs sniffed each other. The men watched warily while the dogs inspected one another.

"Renfield is neutered by the way," Richard said. "Just in case they end up getting really chummy."

"Sulamith has been fixed too so I suppose it'll be a miracle if she does get pregnant."

"Hmmm," Lindsey said as Sulamith ignored Renfield and lay back down. "So I'm guessing this arrangement could work."

Ken came back in the room. He walked up beside Lindsey and watched the two dogs. Renfield was now sniffing the white comforter while Sulamith put her head on her paws and let Stevie rub her back.

"So, no canine war going on?," Ken said to his friends.

"None so far. Maybe they can live together without killing and eating each other," Richard said. 

"This is the guest room by the way," Ken said to Stevie. "Make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Stevie said.

The room had two beds, tables and dressers like the others. But this room wasn't personalized and the only decoration was a large painting hanging on the bed on the left side that was a beach scene with the surf coming in. Both beds had the same white bedspread on it. Richard, seemingly reading her mind, remarked they kept it neutral because they had both male and female friends spend the night.

The bathroom next door was pretty much the same as the one below except the painting over the toilet was a safari scene with elephants, zebras and giraffes. Then they came to the very end of the hallway and there was an open door with another set of stairs leading up. As before, Lindsey floated Stevie up the stairs while the others followed. At the top was a large attic. Off to the left was an alcove with a window and several boxes stacked in front of it. At the back was two sets of bunk beds and a regular frameless bed. Near it was a tan leather sofa with two matching chairs across from it and a glass coffee table in the center of everything. Another TV was mounted on the wall beside it. Sitting on the sofa watching TV were the two unfamiliar men Stevie had seen in the group photos. The younger one noticed them first and nudged the other one. He pointed to Stevie when the older one gave him a quizzical look. Everyone walked towards the two men. 

"Stevie, this is Frank," he said, pointing to the younger one. "And Benjamin," he said, pointing to the older one.

"You mean you finally told her the truth?," Frank said with a heavy Southern American accent.

"Not by choice. Slave Hunters tried to kidnap her," Lindsey said.

"Bloody Hell," Benjamin said with an English accent. "Are you all right then?," he said to Stevie as he and Frank got to their feet and walked over to her."

"I'm fine, thanks. Nice to meet both of you," Stevie said.

"Pleasure, ma'am," Frank said, bowing slightly.

"Yes, a sincere pleasure to finally meet the woman we've been hearing about ad nauseum for thirty years," Benjamin said bowing. "You are much lovlier than your photos."

"Oh crap, Ben's turning on his British charm," Richard joked to Lindsey while Stevie blushed. "Better tie Stevie to your body before he woos her into submission."

"Can I help it if I have better manners than you Yanks?," Benjamin said jokingly. 

"So...I take it from your accents, you're not originally from LA," Stevie said.

"No ma'am, Tennessee, born and bred," Frank said.

"London, born and bred," Benjamin said, nodding.

"Believe it or not, both of them are military men...or were," Ken said.

"Really, which war?," Stevie said to Frank and Ben.

"War Between the States, ma'am. Served in the Confederate army."

"I served in what you Yanks call the Revolutionary War. Was on the British side before I defected and served as a spy for Washington."

Stevie's friends laughed at the stunned look on her face. 

"Yeah, I'm much older than I look," Frank said, grinning. 

"As am I," Benjamin added.

"Well, how old is Felicia then?," Stevie said. 

"Um...I think she's around our age actually," Richard said. "She knew about Fleetwood Mac but these two didn't. Felicia told them about the band before we arrived at the clan house."

"Told us over and over and over, to be precise," Benjamin said to Stevie.

"And showed us photos," Frank added. "Me and Ben found them after they'd been turned and we recognized everyone except Ken and Rich. We'd never seen a photo of them before."

"We're not good enough to be included in photos," Ken said to Richard.

"Yes. We are the hidden members of the group," Richard said.

"She also had a huge poster of you. That's what started the whole indoctrination," Frank said. "I was in her old apartment and went to use her bathroom. On the way back, I walked by her bedroom and the poster of you was on the wall. I thought you were pretty so I casually asked Felice who you were. Next thing I know, me and Ben are in the middle of a long sermon about awesome Fleetwood Mac is."

"That's because we are awesome," Lindsey said. "We are the greatest band ever invented."

Stevie laughed when Frank and Ben gave him a dubious look. Lindsey grinned and shrugged.

"But as you can probably tell, this is where the rest of the men sleep," Ken said. "The bunk beds are for Frank, Ben, Lindsey and John, although he never uses it. Big bed is for Mick because Mick cannot fit in a bunk bed."

"Not for lack of trying though," Richard said. "We all tried to make Mick sleep in the bunk bed because we thought it'd be hilarious but Mick wasn't having it. And we have this area here for TV watching if we don't wanna watch what the women are watching. And we had a bathroom built up here so we weren't hogging the other bathrooms," he added, pointing to a closed door on the other side of the room. "And we have a mini fridge and storage box here for our snacks. And the boxes over there," he said, pointing back to the alcove, " are mainly Christmas decorations and the tree. We really don't have much to store up here."

"This is nice," Stevie said. "I love what you've done. But why are you and Ken downstairs and not with the rest of the men?"

"We did that so we weren't crowded up here," Ken said. "And protection. We volunteered to sleep by the stairs so if there's trouble downstairs or the trouble comes upstairs, we're the first line of defense. Not saying Chris and Felice couldn't defend themselves in a fight but we're men and we're protective of the estrogen in this place."

Stevie nodded. She followed everyone and Frank turned off the TV before he and Ben followed the rest back downstairs.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Nine

"This is our kitchen," Richard said as everyone entered the room that was next to the living room. 

The kitchen was large. White walls with a wooden floor. Against the back wall was a white fridge and a white electric stove. Next to the stove was a small wooden table and next to that was a closed wooden door with a glass window in the center of it. To the right side was a sink. It was in the center of the wall with countertops on either side going to the ends. There was a small window above the sink and white cabinets on either side of that along with cabinets and drawers under the counters. On the other side of the room across from the fridge was a large wood kitchen table with six wood kitchen chairs around it. On the wall above the table was a long wood plank that served as a shelf. The shelf had a few knickknacks on it along with some cookbooks. On the last wall was a small wall clock and beside it was a wood door without a window. Mick, John and Christine were sitting at the table when they walked in. 

"I see you finally found the last two members of our family," Mick said to them while he pointed to Frank and Benjamin.

"Yes. They were upstairs in the attic watching TV," Ken said.

"We had no idea y'all had a guest here " Frank said with a shrug.

"Yes, we thought it was just you lot returning. We didn't know Stevie was among you, otherwise we would have made our presence known," Benjamin said.

Lindsey put his arm around Stevie and led her to the door with the window. He opened it.

"Utility room and our washer and dryer," he said, pointing to the appliances beside the door. "And we have a doggie door in this door and the door to the backyard so Renny can go out during the day," he added, pointing to the door across the room.   
The walls were again painted white with brown carpeting. By the back door was a metal shelf that was made up of metal rods. Coats and jackets were hanging on coat hangers on the rods with boots and shoes underneath. On top of the shelf, several folded umbrellas were laying across it. Lindsey led her to the back door and opened it. There was a wooden ramp with wooden railings instead of stairs. The ramp led down to a concrete sidewalk that led to a small building on the other side of the wide fenced in yard. Off to the left, four white wood deck chairs were arranged in a small circle around a small fire pit. To the right was a small fish pond that had stones built up to the right side of it.

"This is a koi pond," Lindsey said, leading her over to it. "It was here when we bought the place along with the fire pit. The pond was empty and scummy so we cleaned it up, added a rock formation and had someone install lights on the sides of the pond so we can see the fish since we can only come out here at night."

He held up his finger and walked around the rock formation. He flipped a switch embedded in a fake rock and lights came on, illuminating a lot of colorful fish who swam around frantically in response to the sudden brightness of their habitat. Stevie heard Lindsey pouring something and then he walked around the rocks, carrying a small plastic scoop filled with fish food. Stevie watched as he gently poured the food into the pond and the fish scrambled anew to eat it. Finished, he walked around the rocks and put the scoop back before walking over to Stevie's side. They stood together for a moment, arms around each other, admiring the fish, before Lindsey turned the light off and they walked back inside. 

Finally, Lindsey showed her the basement. He glided her down the concrete steps after turning on the lights and Stevie saw the pillows. Six huge, body sized, dark blue pillows that were arranged in a rough square in the center of the room. 

"Where we get it on," he said, gyrating his lower body while Stevie giggled. "And over here..."

He led her to the back wall and showed her what she thought was a long crack in the concrete wall but when he put his fingers in it and pulled, a hidden door slid open and Stevie was amazed to see a tiny dark corridor with an elevator at the end of it. 

"This was another modification after we moved in. It goes down to the underground world. Specifically, it goes down to a subway platform where we can catch the train."

"Are you serious?"

"Very. And..."

He pointed to a hand scanner by the elevator door.

"Same as the other scanners. We're the only ones who can operate the elevator. No one comes up unless we let them come up so this is another example of how safe you are here."

Stevie nodded and Lindsey used the groove to close the door.

"Now that you know about us, we can ask Nicodemus when we see him to run a scan of your hand and enter it in the database so you can get in and out too. We trust you after all."

Lindsey kissed her cheek. He glided her back upstairs and shut the door behind them.

"By the way, Stevie," Richard said as he sat at the table, "You're more than welcome to eat the food in here. But there's a couple of gallon jugs in the fridge that look like they have tomato juice in it. Be advised it's not tomato juice."

Stevie made a face and Richard smiled.

"Don't worry. It's not leaking or touching the food in there," he said.

"Where did you get the blood though?," Stevie said.

"From the store," Ken said as he walked up beside Richard.

"The store?"

Everyone laughed while Ken nodded.   
"Yeah. Down below. Not like at Safeway or something like that," he said.

"They have these specially bred mortals they use like cows," Christine said. "They've been using this method for centuries," she added when she saw Stevie's stricken face. "A long time ago, they kidnapped a bunch of people and put them in this sort of cavernous area. They drain them of blood but not enough to kill them and they run it like a dairy, putting the blood in jugs and taking it to the shops. Most vampires get their blood intake this way rather than go out and hunt. It's easier."

"Not to mention there are thousands and thousands of vampires all over the world," Richard added. "If all of them hunted mortals night after night, instead of relying on store bought blood, the mortals would be decimated in no time. It's not pleasant but it's the lesser of two evils, I suppose."

"I can understand that but if they ever do abolish slavery, would they let these people go too," Stevie said.

"Well..." Richard said, "I don't think they could. Most of these mortals have lived underground in caves so long, they mutated and they're not really human now. At least not like us. The caves are just that, caves. No creature comforts, no light. So the people had to live in darkness. They only see light when they're brought out to be milked so they're now albinos, nearly hairless and they're blind. They're more like moles now than people."

"And they're feral," John said. "After living like animals for so long, they became animals. They have to sedate them before they take the blood just to keep them from attacking."

"God," Stevie said, trying to imagine one of these mutated humans. "Have you seen these people before?"

"Not personally," Mick said. "We watched a documentary on telly one night and they showed one bloke after they put him in a cage. Savage blighter. He was flinging himself against the side of the cage, snarling and growling, while he tried to get at the cameraman."

"So, no, Stevie," Frank said. "I don't think they could let these people go free, with our kind or with mortals. They'd never adjust and they'd be trying to kill every person they saw."

Stevie was floored by this. She realized Richard and Lindsey had been right when they said the vampire world was complex. She hated the thought that a bunch of humans had been reduced to living like moles, mutating over the centuries so vampires didn't have to drain humanity dry and drive the human race to extinction. 

"What happens if you stop drinking blood?," she asked. "Can you stop?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"You don't have to have blood every day," Ken said. "And we don't. You can go a couple of days without it. But if you go for longer than a few days, your body starts to hurt. At first, its a very dull pain but if you ignore it, it gets worse and worse until its so intense, you can't think of anything else but the pain. And the pain won't stop till you drink blood. And it has to be human blood. You can drink animal blood in an emergency but human blood has certain nutrients that animal blood doesn't and our bodies need those nutrients to function. So, its either drink human blood or off yourself and cease to exist but no vampire can live without blood."

Stevie nodded, thankful that her friends didn't have to live only on blood and could eat and drink other things.

"You guys did call Pizza Hut, right?," Richard said.

"Yes. About twenty minutes ago so it shouldn't be too long," Mick said, glancing at his watch.

"In that case, should we retire to the living room and show Stevie what vampire cable TV looks like while we wait?," Lindsey said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Ten

They went into the living room and Stevie noticed Renfield was lying in his dog bed, chewing on a rawhide stick while Sulamith sniffed around the room. 

"Still haven't eaten each, I see," Richard said, gesturing to the dogs as he, Lindsey and Stevie sat down on the sofa. " What time does the game start?"

"Half hour, I think," Christine said, sitting on the loveseat with John while everyone else sat on the sofa, love seat or chairs. 

Stevie scooted down to the end of the sofa when Ken sat down at the other end. Mick sat down in the chair closest to Stevie, picked up the cable remote and showed it to her.

"We get two kinds of cable TV, mortal and immortal. These red and black buttons under the power buttons are what you use to switch between the two. Black button for mortal cable, red for vampire."

Stevie raised her eyebrows, impressed at that. 

"Vampire cable TV is in the vampire language. It's called Ashkaddian and it's a derivative of ancient Egyptian. The writing is Egyptian hieroglyphs. Not sure why but the language is thousands of years old and at the time I think it was created, Egypt was the world power. Just a theory. But the other odd thing is the moment you're turned, you gain the ability to speak, write and understand it so that's why our cable is in that language. So, all the programs will be incomprehensible to you. However, there is English closed captioning I think so you can follow the programs that way."

 

He turned the TV on and Stevie saw a couple of vampires sitting on a couch in a living room on some TV show. They were speaking in what she assumed was Ashkaddian. The dialect sounded slightly Arabic to her but it had a musical quality to it that she liked. Mick looked through the menu screen, found the English closed captioning and after a few seconds, English words began to scroll up from the bottom of the screen, she alternated between scanning the words to watching the action on screen.

"But, Roger," the woman was saying according to the captioning. "We can't be together, my parents would never approve of you and your reckless lifestyle. Plus, they're mortal."

"I don't care, Laura," the man replied. "I love you madly. You're like the blood that I drink, I can't exist without you!"

"Can we find something else besides this crap?," Ken said, looking at Mick. "We can show Stevie our cable TV without watching melodramatic crap like this."

Mick pushed the button for the TV guide and suddenly everything was written in hieroglyphs. Other than that, the guide was laid out like a normal TV guide. Mick slowly scrolled down, looking at the channels but since nothing was translated, Stevie had no clue what the channels were. 

"Wait," Felicia said, "show her the vampire equivalent of Fox News."

Mick grinned. He highlighted a rectangular box and pushed it. The guide disappeared and she saw a panel of three vampires in three different split screens. One vampire on the left side was dressed like a priest, one on the right was dressed in what looked like a white monk's robe and a woman in the middle was wearing a white blouse with a frilly collar and had her brown hair back in a bun. She seemed to be the host or moderator. The two men were arguing passionately and she appeared to be trying to keep the debate under control. Under them was large hieroglyphs followed by smaller hieroglyphs under that and hieroglyphs were continuously scrolling across the bottom in a little black box. 

"I don't agree," the monk was saying via the closed captioning, "Vampires should embrace the traditional religions and forget the mortal ones!"

"Catholicism is the only true religion!," the priest replied. "The Blood God doesn't exist!"

"Blood God?"

Stevie's friends giggled and Richard nodded.

"Yeah. A lot of vampires believe in some pagan vampire god called the Blood God. And they're always arguing over which religion is better, the vampire religion or mortal religions. This has been going on for centuries and no one ever reaches an agreement, just constant bickering back and forth about my god is better than your god."

"And if you notice," Mick said. "One of them is Catholic so the whole idea that Christianity can repel vampires is rubbish. Vampires existed long before Christianity anyway."

"Hey, show her the vampire religious channel then," Felicia said.

Mick grinned. He scrolled down until he found the channel and selected it. They saw another man dressed in a white monk's robe standing in front of a small flaming cauldron that was mounted on a tripod. Stevie could see the monk's entire body this time and noticed he had a gold, braided rope belt tied around his waist. There was a table beside the cauldron that had several colored bottles on top of it. The man was looking up and had his arms raised to the sky.

"Oh Blood God, we venerate thee!," the captioning said. "Thou art first among all the gods!"

Stevie grinned when her friends giggled at the melodramatic display of piety. Lindsey, who was sitting beside Stevie, looked at the ceiling and raised his arms mockingly.

"Oh Blood God," Lindsey said. "Accept this sacrifice of a nonbeliever!"

Stevie laughed with everyone else when Lindsey mimed stabbing Richard in the chest. Then he raised his arms to the sky.

"I have consecrated the sacrifice!," he said melodramatically.

"Okay," Ken said, "move along. We've seen enough of the kook."

Mick went back to the guide and looked through it. While he did that, someone knocked on the door. Mick handed the remote to Lindsey before getting up to answer it. Lindsey looked at the guide, thinking, and then he smiled.

"Oh, there is a channel where they dub mortal movies into Ashkaddian," he said to Stevie. "And they don't use subtitles, they dub the voices."

He entered a channel number and looked at the screen. He laughed with the other vampires when he read what was playing before grinning at Stevie.

"And now, I present to you...the Ashkaddian version of Gone With The Wind!"

He pressed the enter button and Stevie saw the barbecue scene from the movie. Scarlett was surrounded by men but when she opened her mouth, the dubbed voice was higher than Vivien Leigh's and a bit shrill. At she looked at the door. Frank had joined Mick at the door, holding the pizza and sides while Mick paid the delivery boy.

Stevie looked back at the movie. Charles Hamilton was now speaking, except he had a goofy voice compared to the real actor. Stevie looked at the door and wondered if the delivery boy was hearing it and what he must thinking if he was.  
Mick thanked the delivery boy, grabbed the two bottles of soda he'd put on the floor and pushed the door closed with his foot. 

"Should be almost time for the game, all," Mick said as he and Frank carried the food into the kitchen.

Lindsey turned it to the sports channel and Stevie raised her eyebrows when they saw a bunch of vampires at a round table playing poker.

"Ugh, not Tournament Poker again," Richard said. "I hope this doesn't cut into game time."

"Stevie, love, you first. You're a guest," Mick said, peeking around the doorway.

Stevie got up and went into the kitchen. Everything had been laid out on the kitchen table. Pizza, breadsticks, dipping sauce, mozzarella sticks, fetticini alfredo with chicken, penne pasta with marinara sauce and at the end, the sodas along with plastic cups filled with ice cubes. Stevie took a paper plate, plastic silverware and a couple of napkins at the beginning of the line and went down the table, getting a slice of supreme pizza and a little of everything else before she ended up with a cup of Sprite. Mick carried her cup for her and when she entered the living room, she saw that TV trays had been set up in front of everyone. As she sat down in her spot, she noticed Renfield and Sulamith were eyeing her food and licking their muzzles hungrily. As soon as she sat down, Mick told the women to go ahead and Felicia and Christina got up and went in the other room. 

As Stevie ate, the others got their food and ate while they waited for poker to end.   
When it finally did end, everyone cheered. Then the game started. Stevie thought it was funny that the broadcast was just like a regular baseball game, complete with two vampires calling the play by play inside a booth. She ate her food listening while her friends cheered, booed or discussed the game while they ate. She felt so happy sitting with them, knowing that God did answer her prayer about bringing them back to her. And except for their vampiric state, they were the same loving people she knew before.

What amazed her was how normal the evening was. If the people around her weren't undead, she'd swear it was just her and her friends enjoying a fun evening together watching a baseball game. The fact that everyone was doing a normal activity instead of out somewhere draining someone of blood comforted her, especially after the trauma she endured earlier.   
The hour was late though and filled with good food and surrounded by good friends, old and new, she grew sleepy and without even knowing it, she drifted off to sleep in the middle of the game.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Eleven 

The next thing Stevie knew, she was waking up in the right side bed in the guest bedroom. It was daylight. She could see a sliver of light coming through the gap in the curtains. She sat up and noticed Sulamith was lying at the foot of the bed by her feet. She raised her head and wagged her tail good morning while Stevie smiled and held out her hand to her. Sulamith got up, walked to her outstretched hand, sniffed her hand and licked it. Stevie looked around and noticed a folded piece of paper was on the bedside table beside her. It had her name on it and she recognized Lindsey's handwriting. She picked it up and unfolded the paper. 

STEVIE AKA SLEEPYHEAD 

HEY, YOU PARTYPOOPER, YOU CRAPPED OUT ON US LAST NIGHT. JUST KIDDING. WE UNDERSTAND HOW TIRED YOU MUST HAVE BEEN, ESPECIALLY AFTER ALL THAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT. I'M SO GLAD WE WERE THERE TO SAVE YOU. DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DONE IF YOU WERE TAKEN AND ENDED UP A SLAVE. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I'M JUST SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO LET YOU KNOW I WAS STILL HERE. I HOPE THAT YOU AND ME CAN BE LOVERS AGAIN. I'M NOT THE SAME MAN I WAS, STEVIE. I'VE GROWN UP IF I HAVEN'T GROWN OLD. PLEASE BE MY MATE. WE WANT YOU IN OUR LIVES, ALL OF US, NOT JUST ME. PLEASE SAY YES TO BEING A PART OF OUR FAMILY. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY, MY DARLING. 

IF YOU FIND THIS NOTE AFTER THE SUN RISES, WE'RE ALL ASLEEP. WE'LL BE UP AROUND DUSK, EXCEPT FOR RICHARD. RICHARD'S NEVER SLEPT TILL THE SUN WENT DOWN SO YOU MAY SEE HIM FIRST. HOUSE IS YOURS IN THE MEANTIME, JUST REMEMBER NOT TO GO OUT AND SHUT THE DOOR BEHIND YOU. WE'LL GO SEE NICODEMUS TONIGHT. YOU'LL LIKE HIM, TRUST ME. ANYWAY, I CARRIED YOU UPSTAIRS SO I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE AND GO BACK DOWNSTAIRS. SEE YOU LATER, GATOR.

LOVE ALWAYS, LINDSEY 

P.S. WOLVES WON. RICHARD IS THRILLED. NOW NEXT WEEK IT'LL BE LONDON FANGS AGAINST BERLIN NOSFERATU. WHEN THE VAMPIRES SAY WORLD SERIES, THEY MEAN IT. LOVE YOU, MY HEART, SLEEP WELL. 

Stevie smiled and folded the letter, holding it close to her heart for a moment before she got out of bed. As Sulamith got down off the bed, Stevie stood there for a moment and listened. It was completely silent, which creeped her out. She noticed that nobody except her and the dogs were breathing and she knew that was part of the reason the house was so quiet. Like a tomb, she couldn't help but think. She quickly made her bed before she walked out of the room with Sulamith following her. She paused a moment, looking at the attic stairs before she decided to go upstairs. 

She climbed the stairs while Sulamith followed behind her. At the top, she paused and looked at the beds. All of them were filled, except one of the top bunks which she assumed was John's. She walked over to the beds. Lindsey was sleeping in the bottom bunk of the one that had a missing occupant. In the other bunk bed, Benjamin was on the bottom and Frank was on top while Mick slept in the full sized bed. She studied them. Everyone seemed to be sleeping peacefully, although with no breathing they reminded Stevie of a bunch of corpses at a crime scene. She neared closer to Lindsey and ran her fingers down his right cheek. It was ice cold and Lindsey didn't react at all to the touch. She'd seen vampire movies where the vampire was pretty much Comatose in his coffin so she assumed that was a reality for real vampires. 

"Lindsey," Stevie said in his ear. 

Still no reaction. Stevie grinned. 

"I could give you a blow job right now, Mister Buckingham, and you wouldn't even know it," she muttered.   
She leaned over again and kissed his lips. Still no reaction but Stevie wasn't expecting one. 

"Pleasant dreams, my mate," she said softly to him. "I'll see you when you wake." 

She kissed him one more time on the lips before she and Sulamith headed back downstairs. When she reached the second floor again, she used the bathroom before going on to Christine, John and Felicia's room. Just like it was upstairs, both women and John were in a comatose state but sleeping peacefully. She smiled when she saw John behind Christine. They were on their sides and he was lying against her back with his arm draped around her body. Stevie stared at all of them in silence for a moment before wishing them all pleasant dreams. She and Sulamith then left the room. 

Finally, she came to Richard and Ken's room. Both men were on their backs, sleeping soundly. Stevie walked over to Ken first, smiling at him as he slept, unaware of her presence. But when she turned around to look at Richard, she was shocked to see him wide awake and watching her. 

"Hello, sleep well?," he said softly. 

"Yes. I'm sorry, did I wake you," Stevie said, walking over to him. 

"Nah. I don't sleep as soundly as everyone else. Never have. I thought there was something wrong with me but Nicodemus told me it's not unusual. Some vampires are light sleepers. Plus, you're the only non-canine in the house who's breathing so I heard that too when you came in. Are you okay? Did you need something?" 

"No, I'm fine. I just was checking on everyone." 

Richard smiled tenderly at her and thanked her for that. He chuckled when Stevie told him about the letter and how he was overjoyed the Wolves won 

"Yes, I was very happy but I knew they'd win. Told ya they're the top ranked team." 

"Lindsey also mentioned the other playoff game is next week." 

"Yeah. Between London Fangs and Berlin Nosferatu. The Brits in the house hope Berlin wins so they don't have to root for both teams during the world series." 

"What about you?" 

"Me? I'm Wolves all the way. I'm not for anyone else. So if they face London or Berlin, doesn't matter, they're gonna win." 

He glanced at Ken when Stevie looked over her shoulder at him. 

"Don't worry, he's fast asleep. You could put a megaphone against his ear and scream into it and he wouldn't flinch." 

"And you can't get to that state?" 

"Not really. Only if I'm really exhausted but that's only been a couple of times in thirty years. I sleep but I am a light sleeper compared to other vampires. What is it?," he said when he noticed her hesitating about something. 

"Did it hurt. Changing into a vampire." 

Richard hesitated a moment before clearing his throat. 

"For us, yes. But it was meant to be painful in our case because our attackers were getting their revenge for us telling them to fuck off. So they did it as roughly and savagely as they could. But it doesn't have to be that way. It can be done gently with no more pain than a bee sting. The actual change is a bit frightening though because your body shuts down all at once and you die rapidly and usually the self-preservation instinct kicks in and you fight your death, which makes it worse. In that case, the person who turned you talks you through it and tries to relax you enough that you let go." 

"Where do you go? Heaven?" 

Richard shook his head. 

"Darkness. At least that's what I remember. If there is a Heaven, I didn't see it and neither did anyone else when we compared notes later. It was a sort of dark limbo sort of place. You're only there for about thirty seconds though, long enough for your body to change, then you wake up and you're a vampire." 

"And you guys wandered around after that?" 

"Yeah. We were confused and disoriented and in complete denial about what happened. In my case, I think I knew what I'd become but I didn't wanna admit it to myself because I thought from watching inaccurate, idiotic movies like Dracula that I was now a souless, godless beast that preyed on people and drank their blood without bring able to control myself. I didn't wanna admit I'd become a monster so I pretended it was all a dream or a delusion. We needed blood, especially after being drained of our own and my body was screaming for it but I ignored that too and me and everyone else grew weaker and weaker until finally Frank and Ben found us. By then, we were on the verge of passing out. I think Lindsey was the only one coherent enough to give his name to them. I remember seeing them looking us over as we lay there and I blacked out and the next thing I knew I was in a bed with an IV bag of blood in my arm and Felice standing over me while she changed my blood bag. She thought she knew me and Ken. She'd read a book or an article that had a photo of us in it but she didn't know for sure till I gave my name and confirmed that Ken was the other person she was wondering about. And she asked about you." 

"She did?" 

"Yeah. She knew who Fleetwood Mac was and when she didn't see you with us, she was terrified you'd been killed or taken away by our attackers to be a slave. So I also confirmed that you hadn't been with us. She was the one that gave us a reality check and made us realize we were mindless, bloodsucking monsters. After I realized I was still me mentally and emotionally, I calmed down and began to adjust to my situation." 

He hesitated. 

"And I forgave Ken with Nicodemus's help." 

"Forgave Ken for what?" 

"I blamed him for what happened to me. You see, after Lindsey walked out, Mick called everyone to do an intervention of sorts, to get him to stay in the band. After Mick explained what Lindsey did to you, slamming you against his car, chasing you and acting like he was going to kill you, I was so furious, I wanted nothing to do with the little prick. Ken came over to tell me that Mick had called him too and when he found out I wasn't going, he basically hounded me until I finally gave in and went. So in my mind, Ken was responsible for my being a vampire because if he hadn't tried so hard to talk me into going, I wouldn't have given in to him and gone and I'd still be mortal." 

He smiled when Stevie squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. 

"I also was still angry at Lindsey. Took me awhile to get over being angry at both of them. What I didn't know though is Ken blamed himself for the same thing I was blaming him for and he was wracked with guilt about it. So, he also had to have help dealing with that. Nicodemus is great when it comes to that. He's very wise and he helped us all come to terms with what happened, which is why I trust him. And that's why I want to talk to him about what happened to you. He's one of those people you can go and talk to and he'll be patient enough to listen and help you if you need it. Me and everyone else have gone to him for advice over the years or just to talk. And believe me, he knows all about you now since we've all talked constantly about you. He's originally from ancient Egypt so obviously he'd never heard of Fleetwood Mac before." 

"Ancient Egypt? Are you serious? He's that old?" 

"Yeah. You thought Ben and Frank were old. They're still infants compared to him. And his mate, Nefrure, is just as old. She was a Pharaoh's daughter and Nicodemus was an Israeli captive that was given to her as a slave. They ended up falling in love with each other and when Daddy found out, he was going to kill Nicodemus, even though Nefrure was as much to blame as he was. But they ran away together before they could kill him and somewhere on the run, they were ambushed by a vampire and turned. After that, the vampire stayed with them for awhile to mentor them but they left Egypt and never went back. Basically they traveled and lived all over the world until they ended up here in LA where they founded a clan. The Osiris Clan, named for the Egyptian god of the dead, appropriately enough." 

He raised his right arm and for the first time Stevie saw a small tattoo of the Eye of Ra on the inside of his upper arm near his wrist. 

"Clan tattoo," he said, pointing to it. "We all have one in the same place. If you join a clan, you have to get their tattoo on your arm. Kinda like a membership card in a way. It proves you belong to the clan since no one but members of the Osiris Clan is allowed to get this. Ken told me they tried to see if your attackers had a clan tattoo when they were fighting them but they weren't able to subdue them enough to pull up their sleeves and check. I know a few other clans' tattoos and Nicodemus knows a lot more. If we knew the clan, we could go after them at their home, unless they went and hid somewhere. And some clans are notorious as havens for slavehunters. Not ours though. Nicodemus doesn't permit it. Especially since he was a slave himself. No one's allowed to own a slave in our clan, not even if you keep the slave somewhere away from the clan house. If they find out you do have one, you'd be stripped of your membership and banished from the clan for life. And Nicodemus's clan is one of the best ones around. He screens people carefully before letting them join because he wants everyone to get along with each other. Which is why it's one of the best. Some clans don't care who joins and there's constant fights and drama in those places. It's not like that in our clan so people do their damndest to make sure they don't get banished. I know I wouldnt want to be banished." 

"Do all vampires belong to a clan?" 

"No. It's a personal choice. Some are in clans, some stay solitary or in small groups. Clans offer protection and camaraderie but it's like living in a college dorm. Most clans do have rules and some vampires don't like that. They wanna live without rules. I don't mind though. Basically, in our clan, you can't have slaves and no fighting. If there's a disagreement, you talk it out or take it to Nicodemus or Nefrure and let them arbitrate. Oh and no betraying clan members, that's the worst one. Your clan is like your family so it's a big deal to betray someone in your own clan." 

Once again, Stevie was fascinated by this hidden vampire world but she felt guilty for keeping Richard awake. He smiled when she apologized for bothering him. 

"Nah, you're not bothering me. I'm happy to answer questions. I'm just glad you're not running away in terror after learning all this." 

"Well I don't like the slavery part or keeping humans and draining them of blood but the rest of it is fascinating." 

"Yeah. There's alot to learn and it takes awhile to get this used to the vampire world but it is a fascinating culture with a long and involved history." 

"And you're still you." 

"Yup, I'm still little old me. Only with fangs...and skin you can see through." 

Stevie smiled and kissed his forehead, telling him she would leave him alone to get some rest. Richard told her to make herself at home and reminded her not to close the door if she went outside before telling her he'd see her in a few hours. Stevie kissed his forehead one more time and laid her hand on his cheek, wishing him pleasant dreams. Richard thanked her and watched  her and Sulamith leave the room before he closed his eyes and relaxed his body back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Twelve

Stevie went downstairs followed by Sulamith. When she stepped into the living room, Renfield was lying on the sofa. Renfield immediately jumped up and leapt off the couch, running towards her.

"Hey, you, waiting for me?," Stevie said, rubbing his back as he gazed up at her adoringly. "You're such a cute doggie. I hate that you were injured to the point you lost your leg. But you bounced back from your trauma, just like your family did."

Stevie watched while the two dogs sniffed each other before Stevie decided to take Sulamith outside to use the bathroom. She picked up the dog and Renfield followed behind her. She went out the back, making sure the door remained open and put Sulamith down while Renfield bounded past her and began to run around the yard. Sulamith sniffed the ground, trying to find a place to go while Stevie walked towards the little building at the back of the property. It was a little white wooden building with a black slate roof. The sidewalk led to a wooden door and twoStevie windows were on either side. She tried the doorknob and opened the unlocked door. She went inside, frowning at the heated, uncirculated air inside along with the faint smells of motor oil and saw dust. She realized it was a combination shed and workshop. Off to the corner was a lawnmower, rake, shovel and an ax. Hanging off pegs on the wall was hedge clippers, hammer, wrenches and a drill. Near the tools was a workbench and wooden stool. Beside the bench was a chainsaw and off to the left was another wooden table with more power tools on top.

"Hmm, vampire man cave," Stevie muttered as she looked around. 

She turned to go back out and saw several weapons mounted on the walls. There was an old musket, samurai sword, a cutlass and a Civil War era rifle with bayonet. Underneath the weapons was a wooden storage box. Stevie noticed three pieces of paper taped to the wall under the cutlass She walked over and read them. the first piece of paper directly under the weapon had an arrow drawn in black pen up towards the cutlass. Under the arrow was written.

THE ORIGIN OF KEN'S NICKNAME.  
RD.

under that slip of paper was another slip of paper. The writing on it said.

NO, THE ORIGIN OF MY NICKNAME COMES FROM YOUR STUPID ASS AND IF YOU DON'T STOP CALLING ME THAT, "RD", YOU'LL FIND THE CUTLASS STICKING THROUGH YOUR LILLY WHITE, DEAD BODY.

LOVE AND KISSES,   
KC

The third piece of paper under that one read.

I HAVE A THEORY. THE REASON I WENT NUTS IN THE 70'S AND 80'S IS BECAUSE RD AND KC DROVE ME NUT-T!

LOVE AND KISSES AND BLOW JOBS  
LB.

P.S. RD, KC AND LB RHYME IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT.

Stevie chuckled as she finished reading the notes. She was comforted that nothing really had changed personality wise with her friends. They were still teasing each other even now. She thought about what Richard said though, how the vampires brutalized them on purpose and it made her heart ache, knowing they'd been harmed and then changed into vampires against their will. 

She looked down at the storage box. She didn't see a lock on it so she lifted the lid. There were more tools inside, screwdrivers, level, ruler and other tools. What tickled her were two photos and two pieces of paper that were taped to the underside of the lid. The photo was of Richard, his mouth wide open and vampire fangs bared. Under that, the first piece of paper said.

BEWARE!  
THESE TOOLS ARE PROTECTED BY RICHARD DASHUT. HE MAY NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH BUT DON'T LET THE WUSSY APPEARANCE FOOL YOU. THE MAN IS A KILLER!

Under that was the second photo. Richard was now kneeling over Ken who was lying on the floor with his eyes looking up and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Richard was snarling at the camera, fangs bared. Under that was the second piece of paper. The writing on it said.

SEE? THIS POOR BASTARD UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF THE DASHUT AND NOW HE'S VAMPIRE CHOW!

Stevie laughed. She leaned in for a closer look and laughed again when she could see Renfield several feet behind Ken staring at him with what Stevie swore was a "what the fuck is this?" look on his canine face. 

She looked at the dogs who were standing nearby, wagging their tails. She lowered the lid and called to the dogs to come as she left the shed and headed back to the house.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For the next few hours, Stevie fed the dogs, made and ate some breakfast and explored the vampire cable chsnnels. Thanks to the closed captioning, she could understand the programs but the guide was incomprehensible and she picked things at random to watch. She found everything from movies to soap opera to porn. Unfortunately, Richard came down at the moment she found the porn and laughed when Stevie fumbled with the remote trying to turn it off.

"Ah come on, Stevie, we all know what a big horndog you are," he teased when Stevie quickly turned off the TV.

"Be quiet, Richard, I can't read hieroglyphs so I had no idea it was a porn channel."

"Uh huh," Richard said, winking.

Stevie chuckled as he went into the kitchen.   
"You really do get up early," Stevie said, getting up and following him into the kitchen.

"Yes. Thank God we have special windows that block out UV rays or I wouldn't be able to move around so easily. I'm safe in here, I just can't go outside or I'm barbecue."

Stevie stood in the doorway, watching as he took blood out of the fridge. He carried the container over to the counter after shutting the fridge door and opened a cabinet to get a red plastic cup. Stevie came to the counter, watching as he poured the blood into the cup.

"Does that taste good?," she asked as she pointed to the cup.

"To me it does but I think vampires develop a fondness for it with the change since we need it to survive."

He put the blood back in the fridge, leaving the cup on the counter. Stevie leaned over and peered in at the thick, dark red blood before Richard came back over and picked up the cup. While he stood at the counter and sipped the blood, Stevie told him about going put to the shed and told him she found the notes and photos. Richard chuckled.

"Yeah, we get bored sometimes and then we get silly when we get bored."

"I like it. It shows me you really haven't changed, personality wise."

"Yes. Which was a relief for me, like I said. It was bad enough adjusting to life as an immortal without a personality change on top of it. We tease each other all the time. It's a very wacky household."

"Good. Especially after becoming a vampire in a traumatic way."

Richard nodded.

"Yeah. That was not fun at all. But after thirty years, it's a distant memory now."

"What about the others? Did they have an easy transition?"

"No. Well, all of them were turned against their wills but Felice had it the roughest, even compared to us. She left work one night and a vampire followed her home, waited till she was asleep in her second floor bedroom and snuck in after opening a bedroom window she left open slightly. He surprised her and used the Voice on her and left her in bed till he found something he could tie her to the bed with. Once she was immobile and gagged, he woke her up and then spent the next three days raping her repeatedly."

"Oh God!"

"Yeah. She was a vampire's sex slave for three days before he turned her, untied her and left her there. She did what we did, wandered around till another vampire found her and took her to our clan house. But she was aware of what she'd become since her rapist told her what he was. Frank and Ben lived in a time before Dracula when vampires weren't well known in US or England. So they had no idea what they were, they just knew they changed and they craved blood. Frank was fighting the Civil War and was abducted from his tent when his regiment was camping one night. Ben was ambushed while on a late night spy errand for Washington. If you want the whole stories, I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you. But those are the basics of their turning."

Stevie nodded, saddened that her new friends also suffered at the hands of vampires. Thinking about that made her think back to Lindsey's letter.

"Lindsey said in his letter that he wants me to be his mate and be a part of your family."

Richard cocked an eyebrow at that.

"And what do you think about that?," he said.

"Does he mean, changing me?"

"Um...not sure, Stevie. You can be his mate without turning. And you saw the group photo in the living room. We already think of you as a member of the family without you being a vampire."

"I've been thinking about that all day, changing into one. But I'm not sure."

"We would love you either way but it's your choice, Stevie. No one would force you to turn, especially since we were all turned by force."

"It'd be strange looking so much older than Lindsey...or any of you for that matter."

Richard shrugged.

"No one would care. I know I don't. You're still beautiful at your age and we love who you are, not what you look like. There are pros and cons to turning but as you can see, it's not hard to adjust and live a full life. Really, the only major changes you'd make is you couldn't go outside in the sun and you need blood to survive. Every other adjustment is minor. But we'll support you whatever you want to do."

"Thank you. Maybe I should talk it over with Lindsey."

Richard nodded.

"You might want to ask Nicodemus too. He's great at counseling people."

Stevie nodded. She thanked Richard and followed him into the living room while he drank his blood.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Thirteen

For the next couple of hours, Richard and Stevie sat in the living room. For most of that time, they chatted except for several minutes when Richard turned on the TV and watched the vampire version of CNN, checking out the major headlines. From the closed captioning, Stevie learned there was some kind of trade dispute between the vampire governments of France and Germany and there'd been a murder of a vampire in a park in Salt Lake City. According to the newscaster, the vampire's wrists and ankles had been tied to stakes in the ground and the vampire had been left there until the sun rose and burned him to death. That's how he was found by joggers hours later.

"Wow," Richard said after hearing the report. "Sounds like an assassination to me."

"Does that happen often?"

"No. Not really. Not something like this. The guy had some enemies apparently. Not to mention he left the poor bastard in a mortal park for everyone to find."

Richard thought for a moment. 

"Just so you know, when a vampire is killed by sunlight, they don't disintegrate into a teeny pile of ash. They are cooked to death and what's left behind is a blackened, charred body. Which is why he was still there when the mortals found him."

"So there's no pile of ash that's slowly blown away by the wind?"

Richard laughed.

"Oh yes, the dramatic scattering of the ashes to the wind while dramatic music plays. One of the stupid clichés in these vampire movies. Along with sleeping in the coffin, turning into the bat, snarling at a cross when someone puts it in a vampire's face..."

"You can't turn into a bat? You can turn into a wolf though."

"Yes. And we can become a kind of foggy mist but that's it. No bats, rats, cats, frogs or other animals. I think the reason why is because we can already fly so turning into a bat is kinda redundant."

"And crosses can't stop you."

"Nope. Or holy water or communion wafers or any of that stuff. Um...we do cast a reflection. Stakes through the heart can't kill us."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Granted, it can slow us down since a big piece of wood in the chest isn't good but this is a dead body so a piece of wood isn't gonna kill it. We do have rapid healing abilities so our body can heal, even from that, although it takes awhile, much longer than if we just cut ourselves. The only way to kill a vampire is sunlight, burning them and beheading them since even a vampire has to have a brain to function. That's it."

"So it's very hard to kill a vampire."

"Pretty much, yeah. The other problem for you is all our senses are enhanced. So we have way above average hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell. So I can actually hear your heartbeat and smell your blood."

"You can?"

Richard nodded.

"Evolutionary quirk, I think, to help us hunt mortals. I can't smell a vampire's blood, only mortals, and vampires have no heartbeat either. So unless you can find a way to stop your heart from beating and remain alive, I can track you that way. And even if you could do that, I can still smell your blood, so hiding and keeping quiet wouldn't work unless you can hold your breath without passing out and maybe dunk yourself in a big barrel of perfume to mask your scent. Otherwise, you haven't got a prayer against a vampire on the hunt."

"And you said you have super vision?"

Richard nodded.

"Why do you need glasses then?," Stevie said, pointing to the ones he was wearing.

Richard chuckled.

"The lenses aren't prescription. I wear these as a fashion accessory. I think glasses make me look sexier," he said, winking.

"I see. So it's just vanity then," Stevie teased.

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm a vain little bastard when you get down to it."

Stevie chuckled.

"Well, I think you look handsome with the glasses," she said.

"Thank you. It's refreshing to hear that since everyone else here calls me Dicky Douchebag the Nearsighted Vampire."

"That's mean," Stevie said as she laughed. 

Richard rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Hey Dicky," he said with a goofy voice, "If we steal your glasses, you gonna be blind as a bat? Get it, get it, vampire bat, ha ha ha!"

"Well. You are a dork for wearing them."

They looked over when Ken came down the stairs and into the room followed by Mick and Lindsey. They walked over to Stevie.

"He thinks glasses make him look chic," Lindsey said to Stevie. "Like he's Fabio or something."

"No, he was Fabio," Ken said, "before he cut off his long 70's hair."

"Well at least I didn't wig out and cut my hair down to the scalp like some people," Richard said, giving Lindsey a pointed look.

"Speaking of wig, is this real?," Mick said, tugging on the top of Richard's hair. "I mean the man is vain enough to wear glasses, what else is he wearing that he doesn't need?"

"Notice how I'm still the butt of the joke among these people?," Richard said to Stevie while she chuckled.

"Speaking of butt, did you get implants too?," Ken said. "Your ass does look a bit fatter than usual."

"Well, it goes great with his fat head then," Lindsey said. 

Stevie laughed when Richard flipped them off.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the teasing ended, Mick, Ken and Lindsey went into the kitchen to get some blood. Stevie and Richard followed them. Richard cleaned his cup and put it in the dish rack to dry while the others poured blood into other cups. Stevie noticed from the wall clock, it was nearing six pm. But so far, only four vampires were up. She wondered how long the others slept on average. 

She looked down and smiled when Sulamith and Renfield ran around the kitchen playing with each other. She felt so comfortable here. It felt like home to her even though she'd been with her friends less than a day. What troubled her was the fact that she hadn't tried to call Karen or anyone else since she got here. Her purse was back at the house and her cell phone was in it. Plus, she hadn't seen a phone in the house. She guessed everyone might have opted to use cell phones and skipped owning a landline like so many people were doing nowadays. But even if she did ask to borrow a phone from her friends, what would she tell Karen, or anyone else for that matter. She could just imagine saying to Karen, "Hi, I'm okay but I'm living with my friends. Guess what, they've been vampires for the last thirty years!" Karen would take her to a looney bin and even if everyone did believe her, her friends could be taken and imprisoned. Maybe even experimented on or brainwashed by the government to be used as soldiers. If not, they could be killed. She loved her friends too much to risk their safety like that.

The other thought was changing into a vampire or not. At first, the thought of being a vampire was repulsive but the more time she spent here and the more she realized that her friend's lives were a lot more normal than she thought, the more appealing it became. After her mother died, she had been devastated and had been a virtual recluse for nearly a month while she mourned her loss. Her one comfort during that time was she knew she would one day see her parents, Robin and her friends in the afterlife. At the time, she thought that meant everyone but now that she knew her band mates and Richard and Ken were immortal, she was torn between wanting to die naturally and wanting to stay with them. Especially since Lindsey was among those immortals. The thought of dying and being apart from him forever terrified her. And the thought of dying in general terrified her too, although she'd have to die to become a vampire but at least then she'd wake up and be with the people she loved. She just couldn't decide one way or the other.

"Hey!"

She was jolted from her thoughts when Lindsey spoke and nudged her shoulder.

"You okay, Steves? You look sad," he said to her.

"I'm just deep in thought, Linds," Stevie said.

"I bet I know what you're thinking."

"Oh? And what am I thinking?"

"You're thinking how someone like Richard can exist without a brain!," he said loudly to Richard who was sitting at the kitchen table with Ken, chatting with him.

Ken laughed when his friend kept talking to him, keeping his eyes on Ken while holding up his middle finger to Lindsey.

"We know that's your IQ, Dashut. I know you're proud of it but you don't have to keep reminding everyone what it is," Lindsey said, pointing to his middle finger while Stevie chuckled.

"Stevie," Richard said, looking at her, "did you know another perk of being undead is super strength? Which means if I wanted to punch Lindsey's head clean off his neck, I could."

"Yeah and we also can move at lightning speed," Lindsey said to Stevie. "Which means I'll be on the other side of the house before Richard even thinks about punching my head off." 

Stevie chuckled at that. She was still troubled though and she finally asked Lindsey if they could speak privately. Lindsey nodded. Taking her hand, he led her away from the kitchen.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fourteen

Lindsey carried Stevie up to the second floor, gliding her up the steps. At the top, they saw Christine and Felicia coming out of their bedroom. Christine smiled when she saw Stevie.

"Hello, love, sleep well?," she said.

"Yes, I did. Did you guys?"

"Oh yeah, we're wide awake and refreshed now," Felicia said. 

Stevie looked at Felicia and her heart hurt when she remembered Richard's explanation about how she became a vampire. The thought of this sweet, kind woman being held captive and being raped repeatedly by a vampire over three days made her sick to her stomach.

"Stevie, could you give us a list of you clothing and shoe sizes? Felicia and I are going shopping for you tonight while you go see Nicodemus."

"Yes. I need to speak to Lindsey first though."

"Take your time. We're gonna get something to eat first," Felicia said.

Stevie accepted hugs from both women before she and Lindsey walked on towards the guest bedroom. When they got inside, Lindsey closed the door.

"I'm not sure when John, Ben and Frank will be up. We all have enhanced hearing but if they do hear us, they'll keep it to themselves. What did you need, Angel?"

They sat on the bed and Stevie told him everything she'd been thinking about. To her surprise, Lindsey listened without any interruptions, which he never did when he was younger. It made her realize that Lindsey had indeed changed for the better. When she finished, Lindsey mulled over what she said for a few minutes before speaking.

"I suppose I'll address your concerns in the order you gave them," he said. "Your fear about telling others about us is why we kept silent for thirty years. And why we constantly debated on whether or not yo tell you. I can understand your fear that Karen might have you committed or tell others but on the other hand, I doubt she'd tell without fear of being committed herself. Is she trustworthy?"

"Yes. She's been loyal to me since I hired her. So she'd keep quiet if I asked. I'm just worried about her reaction to all of it."

"Well, I haven't checked the news but I'm sure your disappearance is big news now. Probably even trying to find a link between your disappearance and ours."

"I thought that too."

"It's not uncommon for vampires to tell friends and family but they usually only tell those that they absolutely trust, for safety's sake. So I'd keep that in mind if you do tell others. As for your other concern...if you want to remain mortal, I don't mind. I love you regardless and I won't force you to turn against your will, not after that was done to me. I'll support you whatever choice you make. As for your parents and Robin, I think they'd want you to do what makes you happy and I think they'd always watch over you, even if you remained Earthbound forever. I think they're always with you anyway just like my parents and Greg are always with me. But it's your choice. You'll always be one of us, no matter what you do."

"Thank you."

"If you do turn, there is a mind link that forms between you and the one that turns you. It's called a Blood Bond. It's A very powerful link that forms when blood is shared. See, when you drink a vampire's blood, that's what changes you and a vampire drinks most of your blood to weaken you enough that death comes quickly. So blood is shared and when a vampire's blood bonds with your DNA, it forms a psychic link between minds. Through this links you can see each other's memories and thoughts and sense each other's moods plus you can communicate telepathically. You can also form a link manually by a vampire going into your mind and establishing a link that way but that link isn't as strong because it's not formed by blood. So that link you can shut a psychic door on the pathway and block the other person from your mind. But a Blood Bond is so strong, you can't block it and you and the other person have unlimited access to each other's minds so most vampires are very picky about who they turn since the person they turn has a blood bond with them."

"So that means your attackers have a Blood Bond with you."

"Yes. But...an old vampire who lives many centuries like Nicodemus is powerful enough to block access. They can't get rid of it but they can block the pathway so the person can't get into our minds, that's what he did for us so we're safe from them."

"Good because they don't need to be in your mind."

Lindsey was about to say something when he heard Frank, Benjamin and John wishing each other good evening outside in the hall. He remained quiet, listening as they went downstairs. When he couldn't hear them anymore, he resumed speaking.

"Anyway, you have to be careful about who you link with because an unscrupulous person could use the link to fuck with your mind. Scramble your mind, altering memories or implanting false ones and brainwashing you. Some slave owners will turn slaves and then brainwash them into submission through the Blood Bond."

"Oh God," Stevie said, again feeling angry at this injustice.

"Yes. And unfortunately, that's legal too. Mortals have no rights in the vampire world. You could be tortured and beaten and never be able to have the vampire arrested or brought to justice, only another vampire can do that."

Stevie shook her head and Lindsey took her hand.

"Obviously I trust you enough to let you link with me."

"And I trust you, Linds."

"And actually, it has benefits. You and the other person can protect each other by monitoring each other's minds or calling telepathically for help. So it'd be extra security for you and I could do it manually if you want to remain mortal and you can have as many manual mind links as you want but there can only be one Blood Bond."

"So I could link with everyone here?"

"Yes. Then you can shut off certain people for privacy or everyone if you want and they can do the same with you."

"Except for the one with the Blood Bond."

"Right. That one can never be blocked."

Stevie was fascinated once more by all this new information. The thought that she could have a link with her friends and be able to contact them if she needed them comforted her, although she realized if she remained mortal they couldn't reach her during the daylight hours. Still, it would be wonderful, she thought, to be able to telepathically communicate with them if she needed to.

"Will you be able to speak to me over long distances?," she said.

"Yes. You can be around the world from us and still talk to us through the link."

"Good. That's what I was hoping."

"If you're still unsure about turning, take your time before making a decision. Because once you're turned, it's forever."

Stevie nodded. Lindsey asked her if she had any other concerns. When she said no, Lindsey kissed her lips and nuzzled her forehead with his nose, murmuring his love for her. Stevie whispered her love for him and after giving her hand a squeeze, Lindsey took it and he and Stevie stood and walked out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Fifteen

Everyone was in the kitchen when they stepped into the living room. When they entered the kitchen, Stevie was again amazed by how normal it seemed. Except for their undead appearance, it looked like any group of friends just hanging out in the kitchen, cooking a meal and chatting. Christine and John were cooking crumbled hamburger on the stove while Felicia, Richard and Ken were at the counter, cutting up tomatoes, lettuce and onions. Beside them was a big bowl of shredded cheese. As Stevie walked up beside Richard, he smiled at her. 

"Having tacos," he said to her.

"Sounds good," Stevie said. "Do you need help?"

"Nah. We got it. All we really have to do is chop up these vegetables and put the taco shells in the oven and Chris and John are cooking the hamburger meat. That's it."

Stevie nodded. As she watched her friends chop up the vegetables, Lindsey came up behind her and put his arms around her middle.

"Explained mind links and the Blood Bond to the gypsy here," he said to them.

Richard glanced at Stevie while he put chopped onions in a blue bowl in front of him.

"Yeah. If you decide to be turned and want Lindsey to do it, your minds would be linked," he said as he went back to cutting more onion.

"Lindsey told me Nicodemus blocked your attackers from your mind but are you guys linked to anyone else?"

Everyone shook their heads. 

"Not even each other?," Stevie asked.

"Personally I wouldn't want Dashut in my mind. His thoughts would scare me," Lindsey said.

"Oh yeah," Richard said while his friends laughed. "I feel the same way about you. I have a feeling your mind is filled with Phantom of the Opera musical genius recluse thoughts."

"Link with me, Stevie, I'll teach you how to be an engineer with my thoughts," Ken said, leaning back to look at her.

Richard laughed.

"Yeah, I'll do the same. Me and Ken will think you into being an engineer," Richard said.

"Screw that, I'll think you into being a doctor," Felicia said, putting some chopped lettuce into a bowl.

"Link with John," Frank said. "You'll get free recipes."

Christine laughed when John turned and gave Frank a wry grin.

"Actually yes, me and Chrissy can teach you how to be a better cook," John said to Stevie.

"I can teach you how to drum," Mick said, raising his hand as he, Benjamin and Frank sat at the kitchen table. 

"I can teach you how to be a soldier," Frank said.

"And I can show you how to be a spy," Benjamin said.

"Wow, I'm gonna be a jack of all trades by the time you guys are finished with me," Stevie said.

"Yes. We can teach you so much," Lindsey said before nuzzling her hair. "We can also project our fantasies into your mind."

Everyone laughed while Stevie rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Ken said in a seductive voice, "how would you like to see me naked on top of a console with a come hither look in my eyes?"

"Um...actually, I wouldn't," Stevie said while her friends launched.

"Laying naked on the console, wouldn't that be painful?," Richard said to Ken.

"Not if I lay on top of you."

Stevie laughed when Richard let an exaggerated sigh escape her lips. He was finishing up the onions when suddenly Stevie heard a small dinging sound coming repeatedly from the shelf over the table. She tried to locate the source of the sound and finally saw a small black speaker hidden behind a blue vase filled with plastic flowers. She noticed everyone had fallen silent while Mick went to the basement door, opened it and went down. John and Benjamin went to check the doors.

"Linds, what's that noise?" Stevie said, looking over her shoulder at him. 

"Alarm. We have it in case someone happens to override the scanner and get in the doors or elevator. There is two people who can override it and get in here that we know of and that's Nicodemus and Nefrure. Hopefully it's them."

Lindsey stayed by Stevie while Ricard went to the basement door, Ken went to the doorway leading to the living room and watched the front door and Frank went to the utility room door and watched the back door. All three men watched and Stevie could sense they were poised for a possible attack. Christine stepped away from the frying pan and stood beside Stevie and Lindsey.Richard looked over his shoulder.

"It's Nicodemus, guys!," He called out.   
Stevie watched as everyone relaxed and came back into the kitchen. Stevie felt Lindsey's arms relax slightly too and she rubbed his arm affectionately. Richard stepped back from the basement door and Mick came into the room followed by someone Stevie guessed was Nicodemus. He was wearing a long black robe that reminded Stevie of the white one the Blood God vampire had worn. He looked liked he was in his early forties with a slightly lined face and dark brown eyes. His head was shaved as was his face. He was wearing brown leather sandals and he had a plain gold ring in his right hand. Everyone else bowed reverently to him and he smiled and thanked them. Then he caught sight of Stevie and studied her for a moment.

"Isn't this your friend?," he said, pointing to her with a slight accent that sounded a bit Arabic to Stevie. 

"Yes," Lindsey said, "this is Stevie. Stevie, this is Nicodemus."

Nicodemus smiled and walked to her.

"It is nice to finally meet you after hearing about you for so long," he said to her.

"Its nice to meet you too," Stevie said, nodding hello.

Nicodemus glanced at the frying hamburger before looking back at Lindsey.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I have some news," he said.

"That's okay," Ken said. "We were coming to see you after supper. We have news too but go ahead with your news."

Nicodemus nodded and looked at Lindsey.

"I have had another visit from Suzanne."

Stevie frowned when everyone groaned.

"Suzanne?," she said to Lindsey.

"Crazy bitch that's part of our clan that's obsessed with me and was stalking me."

"What? Oh my God," Stevie said. "Is she still stalking you?'

"She is trying," Nicodemus said. "When they moved here, only myself and my...wife, Nefrure, knew where they went. Suzanne keeps trying to find out and that is what she did today. She came to me to try to get me to disclose the location of your house."

"Fuck," Stevie heard Richard mutter under his breath.

"One of the reasons we moved here was to get away from her," Mick said to Stevie.

"Because she wouldn't leave us alone," Lindsey added. "And she was hostile towards you and Richard."

"Me and Richard, why?," Stevie said, looking back at him.

"Because I love you, so in her mind you're a threat to our love affair and Rich has known me the longest so she equates that with him being my beatest friend. Which he is but he's not my only best friend. But she apparently thinks since I knew him the longest, he's my number one best friend so she's been an ass to him and badmouths you constantly."

"She tried to talk to Lindsey every chance she got," Ken said, "but when Lindsey kept ignoring her, she started stopping us in the corridors, trying to get us to deliver love notes to him like we were in elementary school."

"And when we refused," John said, "she'd get angry and tell us to give Lindsey the notes or else."

"Or else, what?," Stevie said, loathing this woman already.

"Not a clue, love," Mick said, shrugging. "She never elaborated as to what she'd do to us and we never asked because we wanted her gone."

"We'd wait till she was gone and read the notes," Ken said.

"What'd she say?," Stevie said.

Ken cleared his throat. 

"My darling Lindsey," Ken said in a shrill high pitched voice while his friends snickered, "I love you sooooo much! We belong together. Why don't you forget that slut, Stevie Nicks, and be mine forever!"

"She called me a slut?"

"Among other things," Lindsey said. "Also bitch, whore, idiot, homewrecker, loser...like calling you all this was supposed to make me fall madly in love with her."

"What did you do?," Stevie said to Lindsey.

"I passed the notes to Nicodemus," Lindsey said, nodding at him. "I wasn't about to be banished from the clan for fighting, although I was sorely tempted to knock her little block off. Nicodemus kept warning her to leave us alone and she would do that for awhile then start up again when she thought the coast was clear, I guess. We'd all been discussing getting a house together for awhile but she pushed us into doing it. And Richard also got abused and badmouthed."

"Did she stalk you too?," Stevie asked Richard.

"Not so much stalk as badmouth me to everyone here. Calling me idiot, loser, saying I should be banished even though I didn't do anything."

"Richard is pretty popular in the clan house," Ken said. "Well, you know he's easy to get along with. Pretty much everyone likes him and everyone was pissed that she was telling everyone he was a loser and needed to leave. She didn't see that she was making everyone hate her by doing this to Richard. Not everyone knew who you were but Richard was a different story. Richard has tons of friends in the clan house, she doesn't have any."

"And I'd never banish him anyway," Nicodemus said to Stevie. "He has never caused any trouble."

"No, Richard is a peacemaker," Stevie said. "He spent a great deal of his time as our producer, stopping the fights, not causing them. Can she be banished though?"

"Yes. However, I am refraining from that because I want her where I can keep an eye on her. I am afraid if I banished her, she would plan something to hurt them and I would have no knowledge of it. There are a couple of clan members who have volunteered to befriend her and they watch her and report to me if she is planning something. I hate to do that but I want to know if their lives are in danger," he said, gesturing to the people in the room. "But lately, she has been behaving, I think to lull me into thinking she has changed. But on occasion, she still asks where Lindsey is as if I will lead her straight to him."

"She sounds unhinged. She's been doing this the whole time she's lived at this clan house?"

"She did not do this at first until she discovered Lindsey lived there. When I interviewed her for admittance, I asked about some of her likes and dislikes to see what kind of person she is. She did mention that she was a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac but nothing more than that. I did not know about Fleetwood Mac till they came to live with us and I really did not know what a "fan" was. They explained both things to me so when she said that, I understood that she really like them and their music. She seemed normal at the time so I permitted her to join. But when she found out Lindsey was there, she changed. She became obsessed with him and hostile towards Richard and indirectly, towards you. Everyone started coming to me and Nefrure, complaining about her hostility and bringing us the notes. We kept talking to her and warning her to leave all of them alone but it never worked for long. So I have kept them informed about her which is why I am here. But what is your news, my friends?"

Lindsey explained what happened to Stevie and everyone's involvement in it, along with the things they found unusual about the situation. When they finished, Nicodemus took Stevie's hands.

"I am glad you are safe, Stevie. I know everyone here has kept watch over you. I am thankful now that they have, since that has saved your life. But this Malibu area, is it mainly wealthy people?"

"Yes," Mick said. "And it's some ways away from their usual stomping grounds."

"If they are hunting someone like Stevie, that is indeed strange. And also that they made so much noise entering her house."

"We tried to get a look at their clan tattoos if they had any but we weren't able to," Ken said.

"Still, there are several clans which they are likely to have come from," Nicodemus said. 

"Can you talk to the heads of those clans?," Felicia said. "Or would they talk?"

"I am not sure, Felicia. Even if the clan leaders are willing to talk to me, they may not know anything about what happened. I doubt their members share everything with them."

"You're probably right. They don't really like our antislavery stance anyway," Felicia said.

"But since you now know the truth, you are welcome in our clan," Nicodemus said to Stevie.

"Thank you," Stevie said, smiling.

"Nicodemus," Lindsey said. "Would it be possible to scan her hand so she can get in and out here?"

"I can do that. I will also extend that to our clan house since you will have to scan your hand to get inside there also."

"Thank you," Stevie said, overjoyed.

"I have spent the last thirty years hearing about you. I believe that would qualify as your admittance interview," Nicodemus said with a twinkle in his eyes while everyone else chuckled. "You are very welcome in our clan and if you ever do need to talk to me or Nefrure, please come and do so."

"Thank you."

"Nefrure is back at the clan house as is the device I need to scan Stevie's hand so if you come by, I will find her so she can meet Stevie also. But I am keeping you from your meal. I will let you eat and I will keep you informed so please do the same."

Everyone thanked him. Stevie thanked him also and Nicodemus bowed to her before he took his leave.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Sixteen

After Nicodemus left, everyone resumed the food preparation while Stevie thought about what she learned. She liked Nicodemus and she could see why everyone did too. He had a presence that commanded respect and she could tell he was wise. She figured part of that came from him living so long, after all, if you live thousands of years, you're bound to gain some wisdom. 

What upset her was learning about Suzanne. She had a couple of stalker threats in the past from deranged fans but the most they ever did was send her creepy letters. She was upset that some woman she'd never even met had declared war on her and Richard for the crime of caring about the man she said she wanted for herself. 

She was jarred from her thoughts when she felt Richard move behind her. She watched as he stopped in front of the cabinets beside her containing the cups and began to get down enough for everyone. Stevie glanced over at Lindsey who was standing beside Felicia, putting the taco shells in a metal baking pan.

"Richard, how long has this Suzanne been stalking Lindsey?," she said, looking back at him.

"Mmm...going on three years now," Richard said, glancing at her. "She actually ran into Lindsey in the corridor at the clan house and Lindsey tried to be friendly and said hello, which in retrospect was the wrong thing to do. But he had no idea she was a deranged fan then. She took the hello as an invitation to pursue him. Nutty as all get out."

"Are you discussing the nutcase over here?," Lindsey said, moving back behind Stevie after he finished with the shells.

"Stevie wanted to know how long the nutcase has been stalking you."

Lindsey snorted.

"Too damn long, that's how long," he said. "But, about a year or so before we ran screaming to this house. And still she's trying. God, she needs to give the fuck up."

"And she's immortal which means she won't die naturally," Mick said as he came up and got some of the cups to take over to the table.

"Yeah. Bad enough she's a stalker but she's also a vampire stalker too," Richard said.

"I'm sorry that she's set her wrath on you for bring Lindsey's friend."

"Eh, she's a loser. So far, she's just been a bunch of hot air. And no one we know is telling her our location which is frustrating her even more, Richard said, waving his hand dismissively. "She thinks everyone's on her side when they're not. It's pathetic really how deluded she is."

"How old is she...or how old does she look."

Richard looked at Lindsey.

"Um...eighteen, maybe," Richard said to Lindsey. "She doesn't look like she was that old when she was turned."

"Yeah, I'd say eighteen or nineteen but she's not that old to begin with," Lindsey said. "Nicodemus said she wasn't a vampire for long before she came to the clan house so now she'd be twenty one or twenty two."

"And I believe a human mind doesn't fully mature until the age of twenty five," Benjamin said, turning in his chair at the table. 

"Great, that means the bitch has three or four years of immaturity left," Richard said. "Lord help us all."

"Maybe Nicodemus can lock her in a cage till then," Felicia said teasingly. 

"Like a dog kennel?," Frank said.

"Yes. A huge underground dog kennel," Mick said. "And Nicodemus can charge people to view her and feed her to raise money for clan activities like an outing."

"And every so often Lindsey can go down there and pretend to love her and shout "APRIL FOOLS!" before running away, laughing," Richard said.

"Now that's an idea I can get behind," Lindsey said. "That and the dog kennel. Anything to keep her away from us."

"Will she be there if I want to visit Nicodemus?," Stevie said. 

"Maybe not," Richard said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Nicodemus and Nefrure live one level below the clan house so if you come up on the elevator from underground, you'll reach their floor first. I don't know how often she visits him now but she never used to while we lived there. If all else fails, you can buzz Nicodemus with the intercom next to the door. Nine times out of ten, he's in his private quarters."

"What about the Voice though? She can do the Voice too, right?"

"Yes. But if she doesn't want a hole punched through her gut, she better not try it," Lindsey growled.

Stevie looked beyond Lindsey and noticed Ken was staring at her quietly like he was thinking of something. Then he walked to Lindsey and cupping his hands over his ear, whispered something to Lindsey. When he was finished, Lindsey looked at him before looking at Stevie. Stevie glanced at Richard and noticed he was frowning at his friends. Richard glanced at Stevie, seeing the questioning look on her face, he shrugged in response. Then Ken, seeing him shrug, walked over to him and whispered to him the way he whispered to Lindsey. Stevie couldn't hear Ken. She guessed that he could barely speak and Lindsey and Richard could hear it loud and clear with their enhanced hearing. He finished, pulled back from Richard and Stevie saw an interested look on her friend's face.

"Stevie, would you be willing to be a guinea pig for a moment," Richard said to her.

"Guinea pig for what?," Stevie said warily. 

"Ken wants to try the Voice on you. He wants to see how long you can resist it."

Now the other vampires in the room perked up and looked at each other when they heard the purpose behind the whispering campaign. Stevie looked around at her friends. 

"Will it hurt?," she said.

Everyone shook their heads.

"No, Angel, its just hypnosis. We can bring you out of it too," Lindsey said. "Ken was just curious about how long you can resist it."

"Or if I could resist it completely?," Stevie said.

"Um...no mortal I know has ever completely resisted it," Ken said. "But the longer you can withstand it, the stronger your will is. I've known you for years and I am willing to bet your will is very strong. I mean, you held your own against Lindsey. I'm just curious about timing you."

"What do I have to do?," Stevie said, looking around at her lover and friends. 

"Stand here. I'll go across the way and use the Voice on you. Just try to resist it as hard as you possibly can. I'm not betting you'll be able to resist completely. No mortal has, at least I've never heard of one who has. But if you can resist for several seconds before succumbing, that means you have a strong mind and a strong will. And I'm willing to bet you have both. So, would you be willing to do this? It won't hurt and we'll snap you out of it."

Stevie nodded. Ken directed her to stand by the counter and told his friends to count the seconds as he walked across the room. He turned when he reached the basement door and cleared his throat while everyone watched with interest. As Stevie readied herself, she noticed Renfield and Sulamith coming through the doggy door in the utility room door and was impressed her dog figured out how to use it since she'd never had done that before. Frank and Benjamin picked up the dogs to get them out of the way and Stevie chuckled when Renfield tried desperately to lick Benjamin's face while he wriggled in his arms. Frank and Benjamin stepped out of the way, and held the dogs close while they watched. Ken nodded to Stevie.

"Ready?" 

Stevie nodded.

"Remember, when you hear my voice, resist it with all your might."

Stevie nodded and stiffened her body in preparation. Ken glanced around at his friends and reminded them to keep time before he looked at Stevie. He paused a moment before speaking.

"Come here," Ken said, using the Voice.

The first thing Stevie thought of was how eerie and otherworldly the Voice was. Instead of Ken's usual deep voice, the Voice was higher pitched and more feminine. She had time to think of that when suddenly Ken's odd voice seemed to hit her mind like a tidal wave hitting a rock. Stevie gasped when the voice seemed to echo repeatedly in her mind and she forced herself not to obey the compelling command. She was vaguely aware now that everyone in the room was watching her intently. She felt herself taking a step against her will and she fought it, not taking another as she clenched her fists.

"I said...come here," Ken said with the Voice.

This time when Ken's voice hit her mind, she found she didn't have the strength to resist anymore and she was vaguely aware of her will slipping away as she mindlessly obeyed Ken's command.Ken and the others shared an impressed look while Stevie obediently walked to him, a blank look on her face. 

"Time," Ken said, looking around.

"Forty One seconds," Mick said.

Ken raised his eyebrows as the others murmured in surprise.

"Shit, Lindsey, no wonder the two of you had mega fights," Ken said to him.

"Frankly, I'm not surprised," Lindsey said with a shrug.

Ken looked at Stevie. She was standing quietly in front of him, staring blankly into space. Ken commanded her to awake when he snapped his fingers. He snapped them and Stevie blinked a few times before looking around in confusion. 

"I didn't resist," she said to Ken, disappointed.

"On the contrary, you resisted for forty one seconds."

"Is that good?"

"I've only seen people resist for maybe ten seconds at most and ten seconds of resistance is impressive so yes, Stevie, forty one seconds is very, very good. You have a very strong mind."

"Oh, okay," Stevie said, pleased she was able to beat the record. 

She was still a bit disappointed that she wasn't able to resist completely but the way Ken's otherworldly voice gripped her mind, she knew it was a miracle she resisted at all. She smiled when Ken thanked her and kissed her forehead before everyone got up and started to make their tacos.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Seventeen

After everyone settled down in the living room with their food and drink, Lindsey decided to check CNN on the mortal cable TV to see if there was any news of Stevie. Stevie was a bit curious to learn if anyone was hunting for her but at the same time, she found that she was reluctant to leave her friends and their life. She was happy here and it made her think of her dilemma to stay mortal or be turned. At first, there was only news about Trump and she chuckled when her friends made fun of his hair. Then it switched to news about her and everyone fell silent.

"There has been no sign of Stevie Nicks after her mysterious disappearance yesterday," the newscaster was saying. 

It switched to footage of her on a stage somewhere, singing and dancing. 

"The last person to see her was her personal assistant, Karen Johnston, when she left her Malibu home late last night. Police later found evidence of a break-in at her home."

"Yes, break-in as in demolished patio door," Richard said, keeping his eyes on the TV screen.

"So far, Miss Nicks has not been located and there has been no contact from the kidnappers. The disappearance did happen on the same day that the members of Fleetwood Mac disappeared. Their abduction, thirty years ago, led to a nationwide and eventually worldwide search for the missing group. The band members along with the recording engineers, Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut, were never found and their disappearance remains an unsolved mystery. Police are looking into a possible connection between their disappearance and Stevie Nick's disappearance."

"I was wondering if they would link her to us," Lindsey said. 

"Stevie's friends and family members are pleading for her safe return. If you have any information on her or Fleetwood Mac's disappearance, please call the Los Angeles County police or your local police station. And now in other news, North Korea is doing more saber rattling..."

Lindsey turned off the TV. Stevie sighed.

"OK. I feel guilty about making everyone worry but I don't want to put you guys in danger if I call Karen. Plus, in a way I don't want to be found. I know that sounds selfish but I like it here."

"Well, nice to know you enjoy our company so much, Steves," Lindsey said.

"You could call Karen if you like, love, and just say you're safe without mentioning us," Mick said. 

Stevie thought about that. 

"Karen is trustworthy. She's had my back since 1990. If I told her about you and told her you didn't want yo be found, she'd respect that. Problem is, should I tell her the truth about what happened to you."

"You got used to us being this way, perhaps she would too," Richard said.   
"If I talked to her and explained...I was thinking she could help us. Another problem though is even if I told her the truth, what would we tell the police without revealing you guys? I can see now why you guys hid all these years. Telling the truth is too complicated."

"Plus, we'd have to explain to mortals about the vampire world and we'd be putting our friends and others in jeopardy since a lot of mortals would start hunting them down," Christine said.

"Or experimenting on them or putting them in freak shows, that's why I don't want to give you guys away to anyone."

"But if Karen is trustworthy, we'd be willing to let her into our inner circle," Ken said. "And we can take care of ourselves if she backstabs us. We can use the Voice on her and make her forget she ever saw us," h added while the others nodded.

"It's up to you, Steves, I have a phone if you need it. But Ken's right. We could hypnotize her if she proves to be a problem."

Stevie thought for a moment before deciding that Karen was trustworthy. She borrowed Lindsey's phone and dialed Karen's number while everyone watched. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Karen was sitting at home when her cell phone went off in her purse. She fished it out and looked at the screen. The call was restricted and Karen debated whether to answer it before deciding it could be Stevie.

"Hello?," she said.

"Karen?"

Karen's eyes bulged and her heart nearly stopped.

"Stevie?," she said, overjoyed. "Oh my God, where are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Karen. I was rescued and I'm in west Hollywood at the moment."

"Rescued by who? And why are you in west Hollywood? Everyone's looking for you. Why haven't you come forward?"

She frowned when there was several seconds of silence.

"If I tell you the truth, you can't tell anyone else, not even the police."

"Stevie, the police are looking for you. They're trying to help you."

"I know that but my rescuers...wish to remain anonymous and I want them to remain anonymous too."

"Stevie, you're scaring me. Are they holding you at gunpoint right now?"

"Um...no, teethpoint, maybe, but not gunpoint."

Karen frowned when she heard a bunch of laughter in the background. Then Stevie told her to hold on and she heard her quietly talking to someone. She couldn't make out what was being said so she guessed Stevie had her hand over the phone to muffle the sound.

"Sorry," Stevie finally said to her. "Are you at home?"

"Yes."

"Stay there. I'm coming there with some of my rescuers and we'll explain more but don't call the police or anyone else, okay?"

"Okay, Stevie."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay, we'll be there soon then. I'll talk to you then."

Karen wasn't sure what was going on but she told Stevie she would wait and not call anyone. When Stevie hung up, Karen put her phone back in the purse, praying that her boss was alright.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Eighteen

Karen paced back and forth, worried out of her mind about Stevie and her safety. Just what was going on with Stevie. She kept saying she was alright but if that was so, why was she urging her not to call the police? That's what scared her.

After a half hour, she heard a knock on the door and she rushed to the door. She flung it open and threw her arms around Stevie. She looked around while she hugged her and couldn't see anyone else. Were her kidnappers hiding nearby and watching her? 

"Stevie, where are your rescuers? I thought you said they'd be here too," Karen said, letting go of her.

"Just don't freak out."

"Okay...," Karen said, feeling afraid for her again.

"Okay, guys,"Stevie said, looking up.

Karen gasped when five men suddenly dropped slowly down from the sky and landed gently behind her. At first she didn't know them but then she got a good look at them in the porch light and realized three of them were the missing members of Fleetwood Mac. She recognized Mick, John and Lindsey but not the other two men with them. What floored her was not only did they look the way she remembered seeing them thirty years ago but they were all deathly pale as if they had been drained of all their blood.

"Do you know these people?," Stevie said, gesturing to them.

"Well, Lindsey, Mick and John from your band but I don't know these two," she said, pointing to Richard and Ken.

Richard looked at Ken.

"We need to start wearing nametags," Richard said to Ken.

"This is Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat, the men who produced most of our albums," Stevie said, nodding at them.

"And Christine McVie?" Karen said, searching for her.

"She went shopping with another friend I met but she's also well."

"So everyone's alive then?" 

Stevie glanced at her friends and Karen was confused when the men snickered.

"Um...alive isn't the correct word to use in this case," Stevie said as her friends looked at each other and grinned.Karen was now completely confused. 

"Can we come inside?," Stevie said.

"Um...yeah, come in," Karen said, stepping aside. 

Stevie thanked her and Karen looked at the men as they followed her inside. Again, she was struck by how pale they all were and how the members of Fleetwood Mac seemed not to have aged a day. She didn't know the other two men but they didn't look that old either, at least not old enough to be in their 60s and 70s.   
She shut the door behind them and directed them to go into the living room. She asked them if they wanted anything to drink and everyone politely refused before sitting down on the sofa and in some of the chairs. Karen stood and looked them over.

"You guys look horrible, like you're dead or something," Karen said to the men. 

She frowned when a knowing look passed between the men. Finally, Lindsey cleared his throat. 

"It's nice to meet you formally at last," he said. We've been keeping watch over Stevie for nearly thirty years and we've seen you from afar."

"From afar?," Karen said.

"They've been up in that tree, Karen. That's what Sulamith kept barking at."

"What? How the hell did you get up in the tree without tripping the alarm systems?," Karen said. 

She gasped when Richard suddenly floated straight up off the sofa and hovered in mid air. She suddenly realized she hadn't been hallucinating when she saw them dropping down from the sky.

"How the hell are you doing that?," Karen said, pointing to Richard.

"Karen, they're...vampires," Stevie said hesitantly.

Karen stared at her.

"What? Vampires. There's no such thing."

"Yes, there is. That's why they're all so pale and why Richard's floating in midair."

Karen shook her head in disbelief. She thought that Stevie went insane except there was Richard floating in midair in front of her face and she was sure there was no wires holding him up. She walked slowly towards Richard while Richard watched her calmly. She stopped a few inches in front of him and tentatively touched his skin, jerking her hand away at the ice cold feel of it. 

"My God, you feel like you're..."

"Dead?," Richard said. "I am dead...or undead, if you like."

"How long have you been this way?"

"Since the night of our disappearance," Richard said. "All of us were attacked by a group of vampires outside the bar we went to and changed. We've been like this ever since."

"A group of vampires tried to kidnap me last night. They saved me and took me to their house in west Hollywood to protect me. That's when I found out they were still here on Earth. I've been at their house since then. And so has Sulamith."

"And they haven't hurt you?"

"No, they're still the same people they were before, personality wise. They haven't taken my blood or anything. In fact, I've enjoyed my time with them. Except for being vampires, they act the same as they always have. I also met three vampire friends that live with them and learned that vampires have a civilization all their own, deep underground."

"So there's more?"

"Lots more," Mick said. "Thousands of vampires all over the world."

"Living underground?"

Everyone nodded.

"Karen, you can't tell the police about them. I don't want mortals hurting or killing them. They can't live like mortals anyway. Just let everyone think they're dead and let it remain an unsolved mystery. I trust you but not everyone would understand. A lot of people would see them as threats or freaks. They rebuilt their lives over the past thirty years, I don't want that destroyed."

Karen nodded.

"You know me. I won't say anything if you don't want me to but what do we tell the police? They're gonna wanna know the identity of you're rescuers."

"I could tell them my rescuers wish to remain anonymous and leave it at that."

"Or," Richard said, "You could tell them you escaped and hid in the Hollywood Hills where you lived on your own saliva and moss."

The other men laughed when Stevie playfully punched Richard in the stomach. Richard grinned and pinched her cheek in return. 

"See, they won't hurt me," Stevie said with a shrug. 

"Are you coming back though?"

Stevie sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know. I know it sounds crazy but half of me wants to become a vampire and be with them forever. And that's me talking," she added when she saw the shock on Karen's face. "They aren't controlling my mind or anything and making me say that."

"Okay, but what about your career?"

"She can have one in the vampire world," Lindsey said. "Fleetwood Mac has actually been making new albums for the vampire community with Ken and Richard producing them."

"There are vampires working at the professions they had in their mortal lives," Ken said when Karen was shocked all over again. "The vampires built a civilization similar to mortals but underground."

"Can you see this underground world anywhere?," Karen said.

"Well...," Lindsey said, "we haven't shown Stevie the city yet but I suppose we could take them for drinks, maybe the Garden Cafe?"

"Or The Crypt," John said.

"What are those places?," Stevie said.

"The Garden Cafe is a very nice restaurant," Richard said, "Excellent food and some of the best chefs work there. The Crypt is a nightclub that's nearby. Either place has drinks...or food."

"Drinks besides blood," Karen said.

"Yes," Richard said. "We do need blood to survive but we can eat and drink other things. Both places serve blood along with regular beverages."

"How about it, Karen. Wanna go to a vampire restaurant or nightclub?," Stevie said.

"Will we be safe? From other vampires, I mean?"

"If you stay with us, yes," Ken said. " Going off on your own, we can't guarantee your safety then."

"There is slavery of mortals down there. But not these guys, they don't do that and not all vampires do it but it is legal to own slaves," Stevie said.

"But no one will bother you if you're with vampires," Lindsey said. 

"Um...okay, I'll go," Karen said.

"Maybe we can ask Frank and Ben when we get back to the house. See if they want to come with us,"  Richard said.

"And ring Chrissy and Felice once they get done shopping. If they aren't back by now, that is," John said.

"In that case, I'm thinking The Crypt," Lindsey said. "We can get a big table there and we wouldn't have to ask them to check in with matre 'd when they come in."

"Plus, we might not be able to get a table big enough for all of us there. Theres always large groups coming in the club," Mick said to Stevie.

"Sounds good to me," Stevie said.

"You're more than welcome to stay with us, Karen. There's an extra bed in the room Stevie's sleeping in," Richard said.

"Okay, let me get a few things then."

Everyone nodded and Karen hurried to pack a bag while everyone waited for her.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Nineteen

Karen held on tight to Richard as they flew through the night air. Beside her, Stevie was flying with Lindsey, Mick was beside Lindsey and John and Ken were behind them. She had packed things in a purple backpack and Richard was wearing it on his back while Karen faced him in the front. She'd been terrified at first, especially since they were up so high but once she realized Richard wasn't going to drop her, she relaxed, although she kept a firm grip around his neck. Looking at Stevie though, she noticed she was completely relaxed and chatting with her friends as if she'd been flying with vampires her whole life. What she noticed the most was how happy she was, in fact she'd never seen her so happy. The sadness that had always hung on her like a shawl wasn't there now and she looked content. She realized now that she couldn't reveal to anyone that the missing Fleetwood Mac members were still alive, it would shatter Stevie's heart if anything happened to them and she guessed it would destroy her, maybe even killed her. After her mother died, she had isolated herself to the point Karen had been terrified for her health and sanity. She could only imagine what losing all her friends would do to her body and mind.

As they flew, Karen studied Richard and Ken. She thought both men were handsome, even with their cadaver bodies. Richard had short hair that was slightly longer on top and a neatly trimmed beard that was close to his face. He was also wearing glasses. Ken had brown hair that was feathered on top and hung down nearly to his shoulders in back and he was clean shaven. Ken was currently talking to Stevie who was looking at him over Lindsey's shoulder.

"Do you think you might tell your family now that you still exist since I've accepted it?," she heard Stevie saying to Ken.

"I want to. I miss my family so much and I want to be a part of Morgan and Colbie's lives again. Not to mention I'd love to sleep with my wife for a change rather than sleeping with the weirdo over there," he added, nodding his head at Richard.

"Ah, come on, Caillat, we know you have a secret man crush on me," Richard said, looking over his shoulder at him.

"Ugh, there's an image I don't want. Ken and Richard doing it," Lindsey said, making a face while Stevie laughed.

"Ken, my darling, it's me you want, not Diane!"

"I'M NOT HEARING THIS! LA LA LA LA!," Lindsey said while Stevie laughed.

"I take it you're not really gay," Karen said to Richard.

"Normally, no, but Ken does something to my loins to make them tingle!"

"Shut up, Dashut!," Lindsey said while Stevie laughed on his shoulder. 

"Do you have a girlfriend or wife?," Karen asked Richard.

"Ken. He's my wife."

He laughed and sped up when Ken tried to hit him on the head from behind.

"Nah," Richard said, slowing back down. "I'm single at the moment. My mom and dad are dead so no immediate family now. Except for the family we made in our house. Ken and Mick are the family men."

"What about you, Mick, will you tell your family?," Stevie said.

"I'm like Ken. Thinking about it. I also miss everyone."

Karen relaxed even more. She could see what Stevie meant when she said her friends wouldn't hurt them. In fact, all of them acted like a normal group of friends. If they weren't pale and flying, they'd be like any other group of men she knew.When they reached their house, they dropped rapidly again and Karen held on for dear life, closing her eyes to avoid seeing the ground zooming up at them. Then Richard stopped and Karen opened her eyes as Richard slowly descended the remaining few feet to the ground before landing gently. Richard let go of Karen and Karen did the same to him while Lindsey let go of Stevie and took her hand when she let go of him. They walked up the porch steps and Karen watched while Mick used the scanner and she heard the door unlock. As Karen followed everyone inside, Karen saw Sulamith and a three legged dog running to greet them. Then two more men came from the kitchen to the living room. Both of them looked at Karen with curiosity. 

Stevie let go of Lindsey and took Karen's backpack from Richard while she told Karen to follow her. She walked with Stevie to Frank and Benjamin and introduced them to each other. Lindsey walked up behind Stevie, asking Frank and Benjamin if they wanted to go with them to The Crypt. The two men nodded and left to get ready while Stevie told her friends she would show Karen the guest room briefly before they came back down.

"This is a nice house," Karen said as they walked upstairs.

"Yes. I can show you around when we have time. Its very big and beautiful and very comfortable. I love it."

"Is Richard really gay?"

Stevie chuckled.

"No," she said as they reached the second floor. "He and Ken are best friends and they're very close. They tease each other all the time. But Richard is straight. He dated a couple of women back before they vanished."

"Not you?"

"No. Although he did live with Linds and me before Fleetwood Mac. He's a very dear friend and we've been a source of support for each other but no romance. When things got bad between me and Linds, he was a confidante. He's a sweetie, kind, sensitive, humble and funny. He's very down to Earth and an old soul. Very wise. This is our room," she said as they entered the guest room. "The bed on the left is empty," she said, putting the backpack on the bed.

"He's handsome."

Stevie was going to her bed. She froze when she heard that and turned to her, her eyebrow raised.

"Wait, are you interested in him?," she said, walking back towards Karen.

"Is he single?"

"Um...as far as I know. Chris is back with John and I've never seen Felicia with him, the other woman that lives here, she's only a friend I think. Richard never mentioned a girlfriend and the only photos in his room are his parents and one of him, me and Lindsey when we lived together. None of Felicia or any other woman. He is a vampire, would you be cool with that?"

"As long as he doesn't drain my blood."

"He won't, not unless you want to become a vampire. But other than that, he'd refrain from that. He's not a monster, Karen, he is capable of self control. I can't think of anyone more gentlemanly than him. And I don't think he'd mind you being mortal. Lindsey doesn't care if I am," she said with a shrug.

"Oh, you're back with him?"

"Yes. He's not the same man he was. He's matured and I decided to give him another chance. That's another reason why I'm considering becoming a vampire. Do you want Richard?"

"I wouldn't mind it."

"Hold on, I'll get him up here, wait here."

Stevie left the room. Thirty seconds later, Karen's eyes bulged when she heard Stevie out in the hallway screaming, "HEY! DICKIE DOUCHEBAG, GET YOUR CADAVER ASS UP HERE. WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!," at the top of her lungs before running back to the guest room while everyone downstairs roared with laughter. Stevie leaned out the doorway and laughed. Karen stepped out in the hallway and saw Richard gliding up the stairs, looking over his shoulder at Stevie with a peeved look on his face. He reached the second floor but didn't land, instead gliding over to the door. 

"Yes, Miss Teedee Rudebutt Loudmouth, what did you want?," he said as he landed on the floor in front of her.

"Do you have a girlfriend?," Stevie asked.

"CERTAINLY. MY GIRLFRIEND IS KENNY CAILLAT!," Rich bellowed.

"I WOULD SAY FUCK YOU, DASHUT," Ken yelled from below, "BUT YOU'D INTERPRET THAT THE WRONG WAY!"

Richard chuckled as the other men laughed below.

"Okay, no, don't have a girlfriend," he said. "Why? Are you auditioning for the part?"

"No but Karen is. I'm serious," she said when she saw the uncertain look on Richard's face.

Karen blushed when Richard looked her way.

"Really?," he said to her.

"Yeah, I mean, you're good looking," Karen said sheepishly.

"So, I mean if you can pull yourself away from Ken...," Stevie said.

"Gee, I don't know. After all, KEN IS MY SEX SLAVE!."

"ALRIGHT, DASHUT, I'M COMING UP THERE!," Ken bellowed while the other men roared with laughter.

"Well, I would love a date but Ken is coming up here to kill me now, so I suppose I can't now," Richard said to Karen.

Stevie giggled when she caught sight of Ken coming up the stairs, hands behind his back.

"Prepare to die, my darling," Ken said as he turned the corner and glided towards Richard.

"Wait! Don't kill me just yet. I have a date with Karen," Richard said, holding his hands up towards him.

Ken stopped moving. He hovered in midair a moment looking at Richard and Karen before looking at Stevie.

"Is he serious?," he said to Stevie.

"Yes. Karen likes him," Stevie said, pointing to Richard.

Ken lowered himself to the floor. 

"And you are going on a date?," he said to Richard.

"Well, we are going to a club so I suppose that's a good a place as any," Richard said, shrugging.

Ken raised his eyebrows at that. He hurried back downstairs and a few minutes later, everyone came upstairs. Stevie chuckled as the men looked between Richard and Karen while they walked towards them.

"Wow, you got over your fear of vampires fast," Mick said to Karen. "You know, if it doesn't work out, you could have a go at Frank or Ben, they're available as well."

The men laughed when Karen blushed.

"You know what they say," Ken said. "Once you go Drac, you'll never go back!"

Karen blushed deeper as Stevie and all the men sniggered. Richard smiled and walked to Karen said. 

"Ignore them. They're weirdos," he said to her. "I would be happy to be your date for tonight."

"Thank you," Karen said.

Richard grunted when Ken flung himself at his back.

"No, my one true love, you can't leave me! I might become despondent and stake myself. Remember those nights on the console after everyone went home!"

"Dear God, I have a stalker now," Richard quipped while everyone laughed.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty

After everyone was ready, they got in the elevator in the cellar and rode down together. Karen was astonished that the house had its own personal elevator when they stepped out of the elevator onto a wide subway platform. Stevie was amazed. It looked like a typical subway platform, except this was far below the surface. She stayed near Lindsey, while Mick walked over to a newspaper dispenser. She watched while he pulled some kind of white tube out of his pocket. Mick stuck the front of the tube in a hole at the top of the dispenser and took it out before opening the door in the front and getting a paper. Stevie asked what the tube was and Lindsey reached into his pocket and pulled out an identical tube.

"This is how we pay for things. Currency down here is credits. This stick is a credit stick. You put it into scanners and it deducts the price from your account."

"Looks like a pregnancy tester," Stevie said, pointing to it. 

Lindsey stared at it for a moment before chuckling. 

"Okay, you have a point," Lindsey said with a grin while he put it back in his pocket. 

Stevie looked at Karen. She was standing off to the side with Richard. Richard was telling her something while Karen nodded and smiled. She turned her head back around to Lindsey but a moment later, she felt a chin on top of her head. She moved her head and smiled when she saw it was Ken. 

"Do you think I should contact my family?," he asked her.

"Yes, I do. I think they deserve to know the truth," Stevie said.

"I just don't want them to be upset that I'm this way now."

"Ken, trust them. I mean it was upsetting for me but the more I learned about your life, the less afraid I became and I became more accepting. I could go with you and help explain."

"Could you?," Ken said. 

"I would appreciate it. I think if they saw I wasn't a threat to you, they'd be less afraid."

Stevie was about to reply when she heard Ashkaddian coming from a speaker mounted in the ceiling.

"What did that say?," Stevie said, pointing to the ceiling.

"Just a warning that the next train is arriving," Ken said.

Everyone walked towards the edge of the platform as the train slowed and slowly stopped. Stevie saw a few  vampires on the train. A couple was talking and another one was reading the newspaper. The doors slid open and everyone got on. Stevie and Karen sat down with Lindsey and Richard while the others stood. 

"If you're really serious about seeing Diane and the kids, you might have Stevie call to make sure they're gonna be home," Lindsey said to Ken.

"Karen, do you have your cell phone?," Stevie said to Karen.

Karen reached into her jeans pocket and handed it to her. Stevie looked through her contacts and found Diane's phone number. Stevie called the number and looked up at Ken while it rang. On the third ring, the phone was picked up.

"Hey, Karen, what's up?," Diane said. "Any news?"

Stevie's heart lurched. Ken heard his wife's voice and his eyes were misting over. Stevie took his hand and squeezed it. 

"Karen, you there?," Diane said.

"Diane, it's Stevie," she finally said.

"Stevie? Oh my God, are you alright?"

Stevie swallowed hard. She looked at Ken and could tell it was tormenting him, hearing his wife's voice and being apart from her. She felt the same way when she'd been separated from her lover and friends for thirty years.

"I'm fine, Diane. I was rescued and I spent last night in a safe house. I told Karen and that's why I'm using her phone. But are you going to be up tonight? I wanted you and the kids to meet one of my rescuers."

By now, everyone was silent and listening to the conversation. Mick put his hand on Ken's shoulder as he stood beside his emotional friend. 

"Well yeah," Diane said. "I want to thank them for rescuing you."

"You should go ahead and go," Lindsey said to Ken. "Before they go to bed."

Stevie heard Lindsey and looked at Ken. "Do you want to go now?," she mouthed to him. 

Ken nodded. 

"Actually, we might come sooner than that if you want," Stevie said to Diane. 

"Yes, please do. The kids and me want to see you and meet your friend."

Stevie squeezed Ken's hand. She had a feeling if she kept on with this, Ken would start weeping. She could tell he was distraught, hearing his wife's voice and not being there with her. She looked at Lindsey when he stood up with Richard.

"This is our stop," Richard said softly to the women. 

"We can get off here too," Ken mouthed to Stevie.

Stevie nodded. Lindsey and Richard helped the women to stand as the train slowed and pulled into the station. Everyone got off and Stevie finished up the call, telling Diane they'd be at her house as soon as they could. Once she was finished, she handed the phone back to Karen. 

"Let us know what happens," Richard said to Ken.

"We will. Hopefully it goes well," Ken said. "God, I'm nervous."

"Your family loves you," John said. "They might be shocked but I doubt they'll shun you."

"Especially if you show them you're still you," Mick said.

"And Ben and me will finally get to meet them," Frank said. 

"Yes. And we want to meet Mick's family as well," Benjamin said, looking at Mick. 

"If all goes well, I'm going next," Mick said to them.

They wished Ken luck after they went down an escalator that led down to street level of the vampire LA. Stevie was stunned. The city was huge, complete with high buildings. It wasn't exactly like LA but it had many of the same architectural elements. She was fascinated by it all and made a mental note to return but for now, she was helping Ken finally reunite with his family after thirty long years.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty One

To Stevie's surprise, there was an elevator about a half block away the led up to the surface. 

"People use this as either an emergency exit or people coming down from the surface who don't live in a modified house or clan house. There are hidden entrances all over the place."

When they got to the top floor of the elevator, there was a short corridor that led to narrow concrete steps that went up to a wooden door in the ceiling. Ken led her to the steps. He went up first and pushed on the door. It opened straight up and Stevie could see the night sky out the opening. She followed Ken and he helped her climb out. Once they were outside, Ken shut the door and Stevie was amazed to find the top of the door was hidden under a fake boulder. With the door closed, the door was hidden and it looked like a large rock in the middle of a grassy field. Ken looked around to make sure they weren't being watched before he took Stevie in his arms. Stevie faced him, put her arms around his neck and when they were ready, Ken rose into the sky and headed for Diane's house.   
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Diane was sitting in the living room with Morgan and Colbie. All of them were waiting for Stevie to arrive and they were anxious to see her. After hearing about the disappearance, they had been worried sick, trying to imagined what might have happened. They were relieved that she'd been rescued and was okay. 

Finally about an hour after the phone call, they heard a knock on the front door. Diane and the kids rushed to the door and opened it, crying out with joy when they saw Stevie standing there. Stevie smiled when Diane embraced her, followed by the children. But Diane noticed that Stevie was alone. 

"Stevie, where's the person who saved you?." Diane said, leaning out the door and looking around outside. 

"He wanted me to speak to you first. He's nervous."

"Why? We're not going to bite him," Diane said.

Stevie was aware of the irony of that statement but she kept quiet. Instead, asking if she could come in and explain. She knew Ken was nearby, waiting to see how his family would react before seeing them. Stevie didn't blame him since she had no idea how to break the news to them. She followed everyone into the living room and sat down in a chair across from the couch while Diane and the children sat on it and waited for her to speak.

"I don't know how to say this without you being shocked so I'll just come out and say it. Ken is alive and he and Richard and my band mates rescued me."

She paused, taking in the stunned faces of Ken's family. Diane swallowed hard as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Daddy?," Colbie said. "He's alive?"

Stevie nodded.

"Is he the one who's waiting?," Diane said.

"Yes."

"Then why is he scared to see us? We love him!"

"Because...he's not exactly the same person you knew before. He's...changed. They all changed and that's why they hid all these years."

"Hid from us?," Diane said in disbelief. "We thought he was dead and he was hiding?"

Stevie knew this wasn't going to be easy. She took a deep breath.

"He's a vampire," she blurted out.

Silence fell over the room. Stevie looked at the stunned faces of her friends and knew there was no turning back now. 

"Hear me out, this is not a joke. He and everyone else are vampires," Stevie said.

"Stevie, that's not funny," Diane said.

"I know, I'm not trying to be funny. I'm being serious."

"There's no such thing," Diane said.

"I thought so too but it's the truth. Ken and everyone else were attacked by vampires the night they went to the bar and these vampires changed them. They hid all these years because they were afraid it would cause you pain. They hid from me too till they had to rescue me from a group of vampires who tried to kidnap me. But they'd been watching over from afar and Ken was watching over you too as well as the others. They didn't want what happened to them to happen to you."

"Where is he?," Morgan said. "I want to see him."

"Yes. Me too," Colbie said.

Diane nodded.

"I don't know what to think about all this but if my husband is alive, I want to see him."

Stevie nodded. She got up and went to the door while everyone else followed her. She opened the door and called to Ken to come while his family stood behind Stevie. 

Suddenly, Ken dropped down from the roof where he'd been hiding and Diane gasped as she staggered back.

"Diane, darling, please guys, don't be frightened," Ken said, his face strickened at the shocked faces of his family. 

For a moment, Stevie thought Diane was going to faint and she could tell Ken had the same thought since he started to step forward to catch her. But she recovered and stood there in silent shock while Ken gazed at her forlornly. Then Colbie stepped forward and Stevie smiled at the tender, loving expression on Ken's face. 

"Coco," Ken murmured.

"Daddy?"

Colbie touched Ken's face and gasped at the icy coldness of it. She stared at her father's bloodless face and came closer.

"This is real, isn't it?," Colbie said.

"Yes, hon, this isn't a joke, this is real," Ken said sadly.

The others came near to Ken while Stevie stepped back slightly to give them room. Diane and Morgan touched Ken's face and felt the chill there. 

"Oh God, Ken. This is what became of you?," Diane said.

"Yes, darling. I'm a vampire now but I'm not a monster. I still have my mind and personality and I'd never hurt any of you."

Diane sobbed and held Ken. Ken wrapped her arms around her as she wept. Stevie smiled as the children came close and Ken touched them while he held his wife and tried to comfort her. Stevie knew this was painful for all of them but she was glad that they knew Ken was still with them.Diane calmed down enough to stop crying and she put her hands on Ken's cheeks and kissed his lips. Ken sighed with relief while he hungrily returned the kiss, tasting his wife's lips after thirty years. Then Diane stepped back and Ken embraced his children, holding them close and rubbing their backs as they also began to weep. After a few minutes, they calmed down and Diane came close again. Ken closed his eyes and drew his family in, smelling their scents and listening to their heartbeats, his heart nearly bursting with joy. 

"Can you direct Diane back to the house so they can see where you live?," Stevie said to Ken after several minutes of silence. 

"Yes. Do you want to see where I live, see what my life is like?"

"Is it far?," Diane said. 

"No, west Hollywood. I live in a house with everyone else that went missing plus three more you haven't met."

"You mean the house Stevie went to?," Colbie said.

"Yes. In fact if you want to spend the night, it'd be easier for me and everyone else to explain things to you."

Diane nodded. Ken and Stevie watched with joyful hearts as Ken's family hurried to their rooms to pack some things for a sleepover.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Two

Mick finished scanning his hand and the elevator door opened silently. They'd spent a couple of hours at The Crypt before returning home. All of them were anxious to find out if Ken had any luck with his family. Christine and Felicia were with them. They'd met them at the club after they finished shopping and both of them were carrying a large plastic shopping bag filled with clothes and a pair of shoes for Stevie along with some toiletries. They squeezed inside the elevator and Mick pressed the single button that took them up to the house. The door closed and the elevator went up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ken was over the moon. After he and Stevie showed everyone the house, they sat in the living room and he and Stevie began to explain things to them, starting with what happened the night he was turned. Like Stevie, the more they learned, the less fearful they became until Diane was snuggling against him on the sofa and the childen sat beside them and played with the dogs while they listened. Ken realized he made a mistake waiting this long to tell them the truth and he was mentally kicking himself repeatedly for being such a stupid coward. They were in the living room when they heard the basement door open.

"Ken?," Richard called out.

"In the living room," Ken called back.

Richard walked into the living room first and froze when he saw Ken's family.

"Diane," Richard said, a smile spreading over his face.

"Richard!," Diane said, getting up and running towards him.

While she hugged him, she saw the others over his shoulder smiling and waving at her. She saw two men and a woman she didn't know and they were gazing at her with curiosity while the others came forward to embrace their old friend. Richard grinned when Colbie and Morgan walked over.

"My, how you two have grown," Richard said before hugging them "So I see the meeting was a success then," he added as Ken walked up behind his daughters.

"Yes, a huge success," Ken said, smiling at his daughters while they hugged Richard.

While Ken made introductions for Benjamin, Felicia and Frank and everyone hugged and got reacquainted, Stevie walked up to Richard.

"How did your date go?," she asked him.

"It went well. I think it was a success. I explained a lot of things to her, lot of things I told you and she seemed to take it well, not to mention being in a vampire club."

"So...you and her..."

"I think so. She seems to want to and I wouldn't mind it."

"Good. Because she's a nice woman and I think you'd be right for each other."

"Richard?"

Richard smiled fondly at Colbie when she walked up to him.

"Hey, Miss Singing Sensation. We're all so proud of you," Richard said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Dad showed us where he sleeps. I saw my posters over his bed."

"Yes. He's very proud of you, all of you," Richard said.

"Dad wanted us to spend the night though and he suggested Mom sleep in his bed and me and Morgan sleep in yours and you use John's bed since he sleeps with Chris."

"Hold on a minute. CAILLAAAAAAT," he shrieked in a high pitched voice.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?," Ken said, imitating the shrill voice while Colbie and Morgan giggled.

"What's this I hear about being evicted from my bed?," Richard said, feigning anger. "How dare you seize my bed without permission!"

Ken rolled his eyes and smiled at his wife while everyone else laughed. 

"See, he hasn't changed his personality either," he said to his wife while he held her. "It's only for one day, Dashut. I think you'll survive one day in John's bed while my family rooms with me. If you can't survive, tough! I haven't been near my family in thirty years so suffer in silence for all I care."

"The nerve! Well, I never!," Richard said, tossing his head back.

"I've had to room with him for two years now," Ken said to Diane. "It's a wonder I'm still sane."

"So, Mick, now you have to go talk to your family so we can meet them too," Felicia said.

Diane looked around at Mick.

"You've hidden from them too?," she said to him.

"Yes but I was like Ken. I was scared they would be scared and wouldn't accept me. Stevie was the first person we showed ourselves to and that was only because her life was in danger."

"Oh Ken, so you might have stayed hidden from us forever?," Diane said to him.

"I'm sorry, Diane. I never should have been such a coward," Ken said, hugging her tightly. 

Diane kissed his cheek and nuzzled it before looking at Mick.

"I admit I was scared at first and it upset me but I'm happier now knowing he's alive and your family will be too," she said to Mick. "Actually, all your families would probably want to know the truth."

"I'm too late with my family," Richard said. "Mom and Dad are dead and there's no one else in the family I'm interested in seeing."

"Same with my family," John said.

"And mine," Christine.

"I still have Jeff, although I'm not sure how he'd take the news," Lindsey said. "We've never were that close to begin with, I was always the bratty kid brother to him."

"I'm way past the point of telling anyone," Frank said.

"As am I," Benjamin said.

"Have your family been dead a long time?," Colbie asked them.

"Miss, I became a vampire during the Civil War."

"And I became one during the Revolutionary War so yes, our families died long ago."

Ken chuckled when his family and Karen stared at the two men in silent shock.

"My God, you've been vampires that long," Diane said. "It must have been lonely for you."

"At times, yes ,ma'am, but we made our own family like this," he said, spreading his arms wide to indicate everyone.

"You sound southern. Did you fight for the south?," Colbie asked.

"Yes, Miss, The 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. Saw a lot of action but I was taken from my tent one night by a vampire and carried off into the woods. That's how it happened. Didn't have slaves though. My family were simple farmers, we weren't rich enough to own a plantation. I wasn't fighting for the slaves either. I joined up because I thought Lincoln and the Yankees were bullies who wanted to control the South. I fought for secession and states rights. I do admit I wasn't fond of blacks then but I don't think that way now."

"And I'm from London. 33rd Regiment of Foot. Infantry. I saw some action as well but I also saw atrocities carried out by our commanders against civilians they suspected of bring loyal to the rebellion and I didn't agree with that since the Americans were still British subjects at the time. So I switched sides and joined a spy network for General Washington. I was delivering important papers and information late one night to a fellow spy when a vampire attacked me. Thats how it happened to me. Felice?," he said, looking at her.

" I'm not quite that old," she said. "I'm actually a year younger than Richard. So, I was in medical school when Rumours came out. I became a huge fan and I'm the only one out of me, Frank and Ben who knew them. I had to explain to these two who they were. Anyway, I was attacked by a vampire in my house, tied up and raped repeatedly for three days before I was turned and the vampire left."

"Oh my God," Diane said.

"Yes, not fun obviously but I actually do still have my parents but they live together in a nursing home and my dad has dementia so I couldn't make him understand but I suppose I could tell Mom. But in my case, I would not mention the fact I'm a vampire since they're both in their 80s and Mom has a heart condition and I don't think her heart could take the news that I'm a vampire. There is special makeup that vampires make that makes your skin look normal and I'd use that."

"How long have you been a vampire?," Morgan said.

"1983. So, four years before they were turned," Felicia said. "And I'd just started working at County General when my attack happened."

"Stevie, what about Lori and Sharon?," Karen said. "I think you could trust them with the truth."

"Yeah I was thinking about that. But not Chris. I don't feel comfortable telling him."

"Well, for God's sake, don't tell Henley. He's the last person I want visiting us or blabbing about our condition"

"Yeah but like you guys said, who's gonna believe him if he does say you're vampires?," Stevie said.

"Yeah, that's true," Colbie said. "People would think I'd gone insane if I told them Dad was a vampire."

"And it would ruin your career, so please don't," Ken said. 

They went on into the living room. Everyone sat down after they brought the kitchen chairs in the room. Mick ordered the usual food from Pizza Hut and they sat and talked while they waited.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Three

Later on, after all the eating and talking, Ken and Diane went up to Kens room while Stevie took the bags of clothes up to her bed and Karen followed her, wanting to take a shower after Stevie finished. Everyone else stayed in the living room. They were showing Colbie and Morgan vampire cable shows and Ken could hear his daughters laughing at something on the TV as he and his wife entered his bedroom. Ken closed the door behind them and let Diane get into his bed first. After she was in and turned on her side towards him, he got in and lay on his side facing him.

"My love," Ken murmured as he stroked Diane's cheek. "My only love."

"My darling," Diane said, snuggling close to him. "I love you so much."

"You never remarried," Ken said softly.

"I was never interested in anyone else. You were the only one I loved. No one else could compare."

"Not even Richard?"

"Richard?," Diane said while Ken chuckled.

"Yeah. I think I told you once we both had our eyes on you when you worked at the studio and Richard told me you were his and I basically told him bullshit, you were mine and I was going to marry you and I succeeded in both. Rich may still have his eye on you. And if I'm legally dead, we're technically not married anymore. So if he uses that technicality as an excuse, I'll put a stake in his groin."

"I don't care about technicalities. You are still my husband" 

Ken grinned and kissed her lips.

"But how can we make this work if you can't live in the sunlight or like surface people?"

"You could join me. Be with me forever. But if not, I can come to you at night and spend most of the night with you. I'd just have to leave before the sun came up."

"But if I became a vampire, would it hurt?"

"A little bit but I would be with you to help you through it."

"And Colbie and Morgan?"

"That's up to them. They're both in their thirties. I will love you all no matter what you decide to do. But Stevie is considering changing to be with us and Lindsey so you wouldn't be the only one. And believe it or not, turning someone can be very intimate and romantic. I would make sure it was for you."

"And we would be together forever?"

"Provided we weren't killed, yes."

"And I'd be stuck looking years older than you," Diane teased.

"Believe me, I care not for one moment about that," he replied, stroking her hair. "You're gorgeous, my love."

"I want to be with you, I don't want to die and be without you in the afterlife. I want to love you and not worry about death. If you have to live forever, I want to join you."

Ken smiled and kissed her passionately, thanking God that his wife still loved him and wanted to be with him forever.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stevie sat on her bed, looking through the clothes her friends had gotten her. All the clothes were the type she would wear and she smiled, knowing that Christine knew her so well. She found a flannel, ankle length, white nightgown with long sleeves that was beautiful. There were matching silk slippers that Stevie also liked. She'd let Karen use the shower first and she heard it running faintly while she waited her turn. 

"Stevie?"

Stevie looked over and smiled when she saw Colbie at the door. 

"Hi, hon, come in," Stevie said.

Colbie walked over and sat on the bed beside her. 

"New clothes?," she said, looking in the bags.

"Yes. I didn't have time to pack a bag when I came here so Chris and Felicia bought me some clothes. I'm going to take a shower after Karen and put this nightgown in," she said, patting her clothes. 

"You want to stay?"

"Thinking about it. I'm back with Lindsey and I want to be with him and my friends."

"I want to be with Dad."

"You want to change too?," Stevie said.

"I'm thinking about it too. And I'm betting Mom is. She's in Dad's room with the door closed."

Stevie chuckled, guessing why the door was closed.

"And there's some cute guys here too," Colbie said. 

"Oh? Which ones?" Stevie said, grinning.

"The two men I'd never met before and...Richard. He's cute too."

"My God, Richard's a woman magnet," Stevie said, amused. "Karen likes him too."

"Oh. So he's taken?"

"Well, I'm not sure if its official yet. They went on a date to the club so far. I think they like each other but I don't know if Karen will make it official. Talk to Richard. Maybe he'd be interested in a date with you."

Colbie nodded.

"Dad said there's vampire music and him and Richard record music underground."

"Yes. And Fleetwood Mac have recorded albums for vampires."

"So we could do that too. Still make music even if we change."

"Yes and I guess we can do it as long as we want if we're immortal."

"It sounds cool in some ways. Dad was telling us about his vampire powers. He can change into a wolf."

"Did you see that?"

"No. I'd like to."

"I saw it when they rescued me. He's dark brown, his fur, I mean. Lindsey is black with blue eyes and Chris is a kind of light yellow color. They're very beautiful and they can talk."

"Cool!"

They looked at the doorway when Richard suddenly stepped through it. He flopped down on the bed on Stevie's other side.

"Ken has kicked me out of my room. I need you to write a protest song for me!"

Stevie giggled and patted his shoulder. 

"I'll write a love song for Colbie instead. Karen has a rival for your affections."

Richard blinked in surprise and looked at Colbie who looked away shyly. 

"Did I become a hunk when I turned? Suddenly, mortal women are throwing themselves at me."

Richard looked at Colbie. 

"Does your father know about this?"

"No, I only told Stevie so far."

"Wonder what he'd think of you having a crush on me? How bout you then, mortal woman?," he said, turning to Stevie. "Want a piece of my Casper the Friendly Ghost body?"

"No, I want Lindsey's Casper body."

"Damn, I coulda started a harem. Do you want to go on a date then?," he said to Colbie.

"I could but where would we go?"

"Well, nearly everything a mortal could do, vampires do too. Movies, restaurants, theaters, bowling, sports events, music concerts, lots of things to do."

Stevie looked over when Karen entered the room.

"Your turn, Stevie," she said to Stevie. "I'm done with the shower."

"Can I talk to you for a minute out in the hall?," Stevie said to her.

Karen nodded and they stepped out into the hallway.

"You might not be able to hear them but I can," Richard said to Colbie.

"Probably telling her I like you."

"Colbie, hon, I may look young but I'm 65 now so I'm more than twice your age. You sure you wanna date me?"

"Well, you'd be closer in age to me than the Civil War and Revolutionary War guys."

"You like them too?"

"Yeah, they're cute."

"Boy, that'll boost their egos."

He paused a moment, listening.

"Yup, Stevie's telling Karen you like me."

"Ugh, we're gonna battle over you now," Colbie groaned.

"No, Karen seems to be cool with it," Richard said, listening. "Maybe I'm not as big a stud as I thought. She's not sure about dating me since I'm a vampire and she's not. Don't think she wants to be undead. Can't say I blame her."

"I'm thinking about it. Think Mom is too."

"You'd have to move your career to the vampire world if you do. Could you do that?"

"Do vampires like music?"

"Oh yeah, music industry is thriving down there."

"Would they like me?"

"I think so. There's a market for pop music."

"It's just that, I wanna be with Mom and Dad. Especially since I've been without Dad for thirty years. I don't know about Morgan but I don't wanna die if I can't be with Dad and maybe Mom too."

"I think that's everyone's reasoning. Stevie doesn't want to leave Lindsey behind. She wants to be with him," Richard said. "Strange that we were turned against our will and everyone else wants to join us now."

They looked at the door when Stevie looked around and beckoned to them. Richard and Colbie glanced at each other before getting up and following her outside. Karen was waiting in the hallway. 

"Ladies, no, don't fight over me. There's enough to me to go around!," Richard said jokingly, raising his hands.

"Richard, I like you but I don't think I could be your girlfriend. Not against you being a vampire but it would be hard for me to do this and I don't want to change like Stevie might. So I'm not upset that Colbie wants you. I would like to be a friend though."

"Sure. I wouldn't force anyone to change or date me against their will. I totally understand you wanting to be mortal. I would like to be your friend also."

Karen thanked him and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

"Yup. I'm a stud all right," he said as the women looked at each other and giggled.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Four

Ken kissed his wife passionately. For the past half hour, they'd been dividing their time between snogging and discussing Diane's change to being an immortal. Ken was telling her about hotels that cater to couples who want a romantic night together or people who want to be turned. Ken told his wife that the hotels have theme rooms and offer tons of amenities, everything from romantic dinners to sensual oils to costumes and even sex toys and things for S&M. 

"They make sure they can provide for a lot of different clientele. I believe they give you a checklist when you're checking in. You choose what you want and they deliver it to your room."

"That sounds nice," Diane said, stroking his cheek. "I'd like to do that."

At the moment though, they were busy frenching and fondling each other. Ken was losing himself in the ecstasy of being with his wife when...

"HEY, CAILLAT, COLBIE WANTS TO DATE ME!"

Ken froze in mid kiss and his eyes snapped open.

"HELL NO!," he yelled while Diane giggled. "COLBIE, I KNOW YOU'RE 31 BUT I'LL BE DAMNED IF I END UP HAVING DASHUT AS MY SON IN LAW. I FORBID YOU FROM DATING HIM!"  
"MAYBE WE'LL GO TO THAT LOVE HOTEL, YOU AND DIANE ARE DISCUSSING! WE CAN RENT ALOT OF FUN THINGS TO USE!'

"Can you excuse me a moment, darling? I have to stop our daughter from making the biggest mistake of her life!"

Diane laughed as Ken got up and hurried to the door. He flung it open and Richard was standing there, an evil grin on his face.

"Okay, either you got dressed really, really fast or you didn't do anything yet," Richard said. 

"Are you serious about Colbie wanting to date you?"

"Yes. Don't believe me..."

He looked to his left and beckoned to Colbie. Colbie walked up beside him. 

"It's true, Dad. I know Richard was teasing just now but I do want to date him."

"Hon, I know we stop aging physically but we are aging chronologically. He's 65 now, even though he doesn't look it. I know I joked about forbidding you from dating him. You're old enough to decide. Just want you to be aware that he's 34 years older than you are.

"I know and Richard already said that."

"She also likes Frank and Ben. She thinks they're cute too. So I suppose I'm the youngest of the hotties."

"Wow, you like older men, it seems. But what happened to Karen?," he said to Richard.

"I don't want to change," Karen said as she and Stevie stepped up beside Richard. "And I think it'd be hard to have a relationship with him. I mean, he is a nice guy but I'd just like to be friends."

"Do you want to change, honey?," Diane asked her daughter. 

"I do. Don't know about Morgan but I wanna be with Dad."

Richard smiled when Ken gave his daughter a loving smile and tousled her hair. 

"We'll have to get a bigger house with all these people moving in," Richard said.

"Or move up to the attic," Ken said.

Richard's phone rang in his pocket and Richard took it out, looked at the display and raised his eyebrows.

"Balthazar," he said to everyone before answering it. 

"Balthazar?," Stevie said.

"Another good friend of ours," Ken said. "He stayed at the clan house when we moved out."

"What?"

Everyone looked at Ken and saw disbelief on his face.

"Are you sure about that, Balth?"

Ken listened closely to Balthazar's faint voice while Richard listened to him speaking. Stevie couldn't hear Balthazar clearly but she noticed disbelief on Ken's face that was quickly followed by anger.

"Dad, what is it?," Colbie said, laying a hand on her father's arm.

"We may have a lead in your kidnapping Stevie. Who's behind it."

"Who?," Stevie said.

"According to Balth, the mega bitch stalker herself!"

"Who?," Diane said while Stevie's mouth dropped open.

Ken briefly explained about Suzanne while Stevie seethed quietly, wanting to ring the vampire bitch's neck till it came off her body. While Ken was explaining, Richard ended the call, enraged. Stevie had rarely seen Richard get really angry since he was generally a laid back, go with the glow guy. So seeing him this angry, she knew it was serious.

"We need to go see Nicodemus," Richard said, "Balth will meet us there but he wants us present when he tells Nicodemus about Suzanne."

"Let's go tell the others then," Ken said. 

Richard put his arm around Stevie and Ken did the same to Diane while all of them headed downstairs


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Five

Stevie was glad that she was on her friend's side because all her vampire friends were furious and out for blood. And Stevie guessed in this case, it was literal blood. As they waited for the subway, Stevie explained to her mortal friends what she knew about Suzanne. By the time she was finished, they were on the subway, her mortal friends were just as furious as her immortal friends. Stevie was sure if Suzanne showed her face, she'd be annihilated, clan member or not. 

On the subway ride over, everyone was quiet and none of the mortals dared talk lest their wrath be turned on them. But Lindsey caught Stevie's eye and his face softened when he realized what he must look like to her and everyone else.

"Hey, I'm not angry at you, Angel," he said, scooting closer to her. "I realize I used to go into rages and take it out on everyone. But that was the old me. I'm furious but only at Suzanne, you guys can talk to us," he added, looking at the other mortals. "We won't bite...hard," he said with a wink.

Richard smiled at that and stood up, inching down towards the mortal woman.

"I know Stevie likes Twilight. But in the vampire world, it and Dracula are mocked because it isn't realistic at all. And to demonstrate, here is a typical Twilight joke that's well known down here. Okay...hey, girls, do you know I also sparkle in the sunlight?"

"You do?," Colbie said.

"Yeah, for about two seconds before my skin catches on fire! Ba-dum-dum!"

"That was stupid," Karen said, grinning while the other mortals giggled at Richard's goofy expression upon saying the punchline.

"Of course it was stupid," Ken said. "That's because Twilight is stupid."

"You really don't like Twilight, Dad? I mean, I know you're a man," Colbie said quickly when her dad gave her an "Are you kidding?" expression in return.

"Colb," Richard said to her, "first off, vampires can't be out in the sun. We catch fire and burn to death, not sparkle. Secondly, the concept of unrelated vampires forming family groups is realistic, I grant them that. We've done that ourselves in our house, as you can tell, but no sane vampire will force a teenage vampire to attend high school, move somewhere else, make them attend another high school, move again, another high school...if someone made me do that, I'd either beat the crap out of my family members or run like hell from them. Thirdly...what are the main characters names, Stevie?"

"Edward and Bella."

"Yes, that's right. Thirdly, Edward and Bella are a couple of wimpy, boring, emo douchebags who I would also kick the crap out of if I spent five minutes with them. Bella is so lame, I don't know why anyone would want her except to hire her to put you to sleep at bedtime. Plus, the actors who play them have only one expression through the whole movie and couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. Those are but a few reasons the Twilight series is mocked."

"Don't forget Bella getting pregnant with a vampire baby," Ken said.

"Oh yeah. All vampires are infertile so that's also not true. We multiply by sharing our blood, not pregnancies."

"We oughta show them Dracula's Castle tonight," Felicia said. "We have the Twilight episode saved on our DVR."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Let's do that," Richard said.

"What's Dracula's Castle?," Stevie said.

"It's a comedy series. In fact, it's wildly popular, kinda like Big Bang Theory is with mortals. It makes fun of Dracula. Dracula and Renfield and Dracula's two brides live in Dracula's castle and they're all doofuses. The whole show makes fun of the Dracula genre. It's one of our favorite shows. We never miss it. We saved a couple of episodes on DVR including one where Edward and Bella come to the castle on their  honeymoon. So that episode makes fun of both genres. It's in Ashkaddian though so you'll have to watch it with closed captioning but it's not hard to follow or get the humor."

"A lot of it is slapstick anyway," Lindsey said. "Okay, here's our stop," he added as the subway train began to slow down.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They crowded into an elevator at the back of the subway platform after Mick scanned his hand. This elevator had more floors than the one leading up to the house. There were three floors to this one and Richard pushed the middle button before he stepped back and stood beside Colbie. When the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, Stevie's eyes boggled when she saw solid gold walls outside the elevator. 

"Is that real gold?," Diane said to her husband as they stepped outside.

"Yes. This is our mentors' private floor. His name is Nicodemus. He's the leader of our clan house," Ken said, putting his arm around her.

Stevie noticed that Egyptian motifs and hieroglyphs had been etched into the gold and painted with bright, vibrant colors. The vampires led them to a wooden door down the corridor from the elevator. Unlike the walls, the door was plain and wooden and Stevie thought it seemed out of place in the golden room. On the wall beside the door was an intercom box that had a speaker and a black and red button under it. Richard pushed the black button and they heard a soft buzzing noise. 

"Yes?," Nicodemus said through the speaker after a few seconds of silence.

Richard pushed the red button.

"Nicodemus, it's Richard. I'm here with everyone from the house plus Stevie and a few others. We're supposed to meet Balthazar here?"

He let go of the button.

"Yes. I've been expecting you. Balthazar is here. Come in."

They heard a loud click and Richard opened the door after Nicodemus unlocked it. They entered and Stevie looked around. The room was made of concrete and was lit by candles and torches on the walls. Stevie smelled incense. It smelled good but she couldn't identify the scent. At the back of the room was a long wooden table that had papers and old books stacked on it along with candles and Stevie saw a wooden incense holder in the center of the table with a stick of incense in it. On the left side of the room was a mini refrigerator and a wooden table with a coffee maker and mugs on top of it. There were wooden chairs scattered around the room and the men grabbed them and set them by the table for the women. 

Already seated at the table was Nicodemus and beside him was a young man with long black hair in a loose ponytail and a goatee. He was dressed in black jeans and a black shirt with black shoes. Stevie guessed this was Balthazar. Lindsey nudged her and gestured to a chair behind her. Stevie thanked him and sat down. The women sat down while the men stood behind the chairs. Stevie felt Lindsey's hand on her right shoulder and rested her own hand on top of it. 

"Guys, this is Balthazar, if you hadn't guessed," Richard said, pointing to the man beside Nicodemus.

The men introduced Nicodemus to the newcomers and introduced the women in return. As Nicodemus and Balthazar greeted them warmly, Stevie heard a heavy Eastern European accent in Balthazar's voice, which she figured made sense given his name was Balthazar. She wondered how old he really was.

"My friends," Balthazar said after introductions were finished. "As I told Richard on the phone, one of the people spying on Suzanne overheard her talking about Stevie and Richard."

Lindsey snorted.

"What else is new?," he said.

"She was boasting that she had hired people to get rid of Stevie and Richard," Balthazar said.

"Son of a bitch," John said under his breath.

"But me, why...,"

Stevie looked at Richard when he trailed off deep in thought. 

"Oh my God, they were trying to get me too," Richard said. "That's why I'm betting they rammed through the glass, they wanted to make sure whoever was nearby knew Stevie was being attacked."

"So they were luring us in," Lindsey said.

"Yeah but most nights, only one person is there. The reason almost all of us were there was because of the anniversary and we were all concerned about Stevie. Lindsey, Chris and Ken were there when the attack started but I got there first. Lindsey came about twenty minutes later and then Ken and Chris maybe a half hour after that. But they must have been hiding, watching to see if I was coming."

"And they decided to make their move when they saw you," Stevie said.

"But what about the others?," Diane said. "They wanted them too?"

"Maybe they were watching for Richard," Ken said. "When they saw him alone, they might have assumed he'd be the only one there and stopped paying attention."

"But why does this person want you guys?," Colbie said.

Lindsey quickly explained to them about Suzanne's stalking and jealousy before looking at Nicodemus.

"So...if we know who's behind all this. Is Suzanne in custody?"

"She's gone," Balthazar said, shaking his head. "I searched for her even before I told Nicodemus. Not even the false friends have seen her. She must have been tipped off or realized she said too much and left before someone alerted Nicodemus."

"Crap. So she's on the loose now," Mick said. 

"I have alerted the authorities. They are hunting for her at my request," Nicodemus said.

"Really? Even though Stevie is mortal?," Lindsey said. 

"I told them she was a vampire," Nicodemus said. "I realize the slave hunters were not breaking vampire law by trying to take her but she is dear to you and to me now that I have met her and I want justice for her."

"Thank you," Stevie said, liking him all the more now. 

"Besides that, they were targeting Richard also and that is breaking the law in addition to betraying a member of her own clan. So I want her caught for that reason as well."

Nicodemus smiled at the mortal women. 

"Apart from that, you wished me to run a scan of Stevie's hand so she can have access to here and your house?"

"Oh yeah, yes, we still want that," Lindsey said. 

"And the others also? If they are friends and family, I will allow them access here."

The vampires grinned and nodded. Nicodemus smiled.

"Let me get my scanner then," he said, getting up from his chair.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Six 

Stevie was overjoyed. After Nicodemus scanned their hands and entered the addresses of the clan house and her friends' house. She was able to use the elevators. In fact, once they finished the meeting, they tried the scanner by the elevator. They let the door open and close repeatedly so everyone could try it. Everyone who had been scanned was able to work the elevator and the vampires cheered. Balthazar accompanied them out and wanted them to come up to the clan house briefly. Stevie was nervous. She hoped that Suzanne didn't come back while they were speaking to Nicodemus. Lindsey stayed by her side and that comforted her. 

When they reached the top floor, the door opened and they stepped out into a plain concrete corridor that looked like something you'd find in a bunker. Along the corridor, spaced evenly on either side were wooden doors. 

"The doors lead to apartments," Lindsey said to the mortals. "We were living in them before we moved out."   
"Yeah but where is this place?," Karen said. "Are we still underground?" 

"Yes," Lindsey said, "except we're inside the Hollywood hills right now. This and Nicodemus's quarters are deep inside the hill about a mile and a half from the Hollywood sign." 

"This is amazing," Colbie said, shaking her head. 

As they walked along, they kept running into vampires who would stop them to tell them they were glad to see them and briefly chat. The vampires always gave the mortals curious looks and their friends had to constantly explain who they were. Richard was getting a lot of goodwill along with sympathy for being Suzanne's target. Stevie watched the vampires laughing and joking with him and remembered how he was extremely well like among clan members. 

They walked to a large room in the center of the clan house. There was a doorway on one side and another doorway on the other wall directly across from it. In the room were thirty brown leather chairs and in the corner was a big screen TV, stereo and three bookcases filled with books and board games. 

"This is the common room," Mick said to everyone. "Just a place to come and hang out. There's also an artificial park area at the very back for people to hang out in or walk dogs if they have them." 

They left the common room and Balthazar led them to his apartment nearby. When they entered it, Stevie was struck by how cozy the apartment was compared to the cold concrete walls of the corridor. The apartment stretched out longways rather than side to side. Balthazar gave them a quick tour. The living room was the first room you entered. Then there was a long hallway with rooms spaced along it. There was a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and a spare room that Balthazar had turned into an office and computer room. 

"Is this like you're apartment when you lived here, Dad?," Colbie asked Ken. 

"For the most part, there were slight differences but the layout was basically the same. I lived next to Richard on one side and Lindsey on the other side. We were always going in and out of each other's apartments." 

"Borrowing cups of sugar," Richard said. 

"And tea," Lindsey added. 

"I wish I could have been with you back then," Diane said as she drew nearer to her husband. 

"So do I, my love," Ken whispered to her. "I'm just sorry that I was afraid to tell you." 

"I understand though. I would have been afraid too." 

Ken put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

The subway ride back to the other elevator was uneventful, much to Stevie's relief. She was scared that Suzanne would pop up out of nowhere and attack them. She was glad the house was secure and access was restricted. As they got into the elevator though, she thought of another question. 

Lindsey was standing to her left as they rode up. Richard was to her right, his arm around Colbie's shoulder as she stood on his other side. Mick and John were in front of her, chatting quietly. 

"Is there a way to stop Suzanne or would you have to fight her like you did the vampires who tried to attack me?" 

"There is a way to weaken a vampire," Richard said. "It's called a suppressor." 

Before he could say more, the elevator door opened and they stepped into the tiny corridor that led to the false door in their basement. 

"Um...a suppressor is a device that cancels most of a vampire's abilities and makes them  nearly mortal again," Richard said as everyone walked into the basement. "If you remember the baseball game, the players had leather collars around their necks with the little black box in front. Those were suppressors." 

"Oh yeah, I wondered about that," Stevie said. 

"Most athletes have to wear suppressors when they play," Lindsey said. "It levels the playing field and makes the game more fair. No one could hit a ball so hard, it'd leave the ballpark and go halfway across town." 

"They use them on prisoners too," Ken said over his shoulder while everyone climbed the basement stairs. "So they can be weakened and controlled." 

"And it makes them a non vampire again?," Morgan said to him. 

"It makes them a non vampire in that  it suppresses most of their abilities. It doesn't turn them back into a mortal." 

When they entered the kitchen, Sulamith and Renfield ran towards them. Morgan and Colbie picked the dogs up and held them close while Renfield tried desperately to lick Colbie's face. The group dispersed and walked off to do various things. Stevie glanced at the wall clock and noticed it was almost midnight now. She was getting tired and she decided to turn in for the night. When she told Lindsey that, he gave her an amused grin. 

"You used to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, Steves, what's wrong with you?" 

"I'm an old mortal, that's what's wrong with me. Plus, my body clock is the opposite of yours." 

"True," Lindsey said. "But at least I won't have to carry you up tonight. Sleep tight, my love." 

He kissed Stevie for a few moments before finishing up by kidding her forehead. Stevie wished everyone goodnight before she left the kitchen and headed for the stairs.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Seven

Stevie was dreaming. 

In her dream, she was standing in a large concrete room. Lying on the floor around her were her immortal friends and lover, all of them wearing suppressors around their neck. When she got a better look at them, she realized that all of them were dead, their necks snapped and their eyes open and unseeing. Then, to Stevie's horror, a woman began to laugh as she stood in the shadows at the back of the room.

"Do you see them?," she said, thrusting a pale arm out of the gloom while pointing at the dead bodies. "This is what happens to people who try to save you. They're dead and soon you'll join them but not before I make you suffer for loving Lindsey. It's your fault I had to kill him. YOUR FAULT. ALL YOUR FAAAAAAAAULT!," Suzanne screamed at her.

Stevie screamed out in anguish in the dream and it was enough to wake her up. She gasped while her eyes snapped open. She looked over when she saw it was daytime and saw Karen in the other bed sleeping peacefully. She sat up and Sulamith raised her head. She was once again at the foot of the bed and stood up when Stevie swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up quietly. She turned and saw another letter on her table. She sat back down and opened it up, once again recognized Lindsey's handwriting. 

My darling,

I hope you have pleasant dreams. Once again, I will be out for the day but Richard will probably be first to wake up again. He was bitchin about having to sleep in John's bed but only in jest.We did talk last night before the others went to bed and I believe not only is Mick going to contact his family tonight but Ken is going to turn his family. I believe that means Morgan too. We asked Colbie if she was sure about this since she has her career in the mortal world and she said as long as she could continue in the vampire world, she wanted to do it. There's gonna be this huge Fleetwood Mac kidnapping conspiracy in the mortal world before it's all said and done. 

But do you still want to be turned? Not rushing you but let me know when you want to do it. Ken decided to turn his family here since he felt taking them all to a love hotel would be a bit awkward but he still wants to make it a bit intimate for Diane so we made plans. If you're ready, I can do it at the same time. So only Karen is opting out. But she can act as your liason between our world and the mortal world. Also when you get a credit account, we can show you how to transfer your money into a credit account so you won't lose it. We also have a hacker friend who can do a little computer magic and make sure any future royalties you get go to your credit account too. Obviously, he's done this for all of us and he can do it for Ken's family too. 

Well, I'm ending this letter. Sleep well, my darling. I'll see you tomorrow night.

Love always, my angel,

Lindsey.

Once again, Stevie's heart swelled with love thinking of Lindsey. She longed to be with him and if Ken's family were turning, perhaps it was time. She was saddened that Karen wasn't joining them but she understood completely. She decided to check on everyone again and she went up the attic stairs after using the bathroom. This time Richard was in John's top bunk and just like yesterday, he was sleeping light. As she came over to the beds, she saw him grin and open one eye.

"You enjoy spying on us while we're sleeping, don't you," he teased as she came to his bedside.

"Motherly instinct, I suppose," Stevie said. 

She told Richard about the letter. Richard nodded when she finished.

"Yeah, we're going to fix them dinner and make it a pleasant night to ease their fears and smooth the transition. I think we're gonna use the pillows in the basement. Ken felt like we should all participate to further soothe them. Not only do we not want them to be scared but fear releases adrenaline into the bloodstream. Some vampires like that but I don't. Gives the blood a kind of metallic taste to it. I know Ken feels the same way plus he doesn't want his family to be frightened." 

"He's changing all of them."

"Yes. I offered to turn Colbie and Ken's all hell, no, you're not touching her. He's very touchy about me touching my new girlfriend." 

He winked when Stevie laughed. 

"So...you're joining the ranks of the undead tonight?," he said.

"I think so. I think it's time. Unless Mick needs me to talk to his family tonight."

"Nah. I don't think so. John, Felicia, Frank and Ben are going with him. I think Felice, Ben and Frank still feel a bit like outsiders when it comes to our families, although we've never made them feel that way. And they're welcome to participate but I think they're eager to meet Mick's family more than helping to turn all of you. I think Mick's also telling Jenny as well as Sara so everyone will know and Sara won't have to lie to Jenny."

"I think that's  good idea," Stevie said. "I think both of them deserve to know."

Stevie hesitated a moment, something Richard was able to sense and he asked her what was wrong, Stevie hesitated some more before describing her dream to him. Her heart lurched when she saw the stricken expression on her friend's face while she told him what happened. 

"Oh Stevie, please don't be scared. She won't hurt you or us. She's on the run now anyway, sounds like."

"I know. I guess I took what you said about suppressors and incorporated it into my dream."

"I understand but in order to get the suppressors around our necks, she'd have to immobilize all of us. Plus keep us immobile long enough to buckle the collar around our necks and lock it. And we're not exactly wimps when it comes to fighting and protecting ourselves. We'll fight fang and nail for you and everyone else so don't be afraid. You're safe here."

Stevie nodded. 

"Can I ask you something?," she said.

"Sure."

"Will you link with me? I know I'd have the Blood Bond with Lindsey when he turns me but you're my best friend and I'd like to be able to communicate with you too."

"I'd be honored, Stevie. I could do that later on after I've had a nappy poo?"

"Nappy poo? Is that the vampire term for sleeping?," Stevie said, amused.

"Yes. In fact vampires invented the term, nappy poo, and it filtered down into the mortal world."

"I see. Well I'll let you take your nappy poo then."

"If you're going into Ken's room, slap him across the face for seizing my bed!"

Stevie laughed.

"You're mean, Richard," she teased.

"I'm mean? He's the one that stole my bed and gave it to his daughters. Which is why he deserves to be slapped unmercifully. And he's in a deep sleep so he won't know it's happening. He'll just wake up later and wonder why his face has a bright red handprint on it."

Stevie chuckled. She had another thought while she looked at his warm smiling face.

"You have no family now, do you?," she said.

"No one that I want to reconnect with. I was close to Mom and Dad but I have a couple of aunts and uncles plus some cousins, nieces and nephews. None of them have ever been close to me. Mom was never that close to her brothers and sisters. We'd see them on holidays and they always end up fighting. So I don't have good memories of them."

Stevie nodded.

"I only have Chris now and I don't see him often. I'm not worried about his reaction to my...turning. We've never been that close either. He was my bratty kid brother."

"Sorta how Jeff sees Lindsey."

"Yes. And I never particularly liked him either. He and Greg always tried to get me to leave Lindsey and date them when Lindsey and me were young. They finally stopped pursuing me but you know, first impressions and all that."

Richard nodded.

"But the reason I'm asking about your family is I was thinking if I'm doing this and becoming a permanent part of the family, would you be interested in adopting an older sister?"

Richard's eyes widened. He carefully rolled onto his stomach and leaned up on his elbows. 

"Seriously?," he said.

"Yes. We've always been close and you don't have a family like Ken and Mick and you have no family you like, so adopt me!"

"Wow, I'm honored, I really am, and I absolutely would love to have you be my sister. In fact..."

Stevie watched as he shifted around, sat up and slid off the top bunk. 

"There's is a way to make it formal and legal in the vampire world, if you're interested."

"You can adopt adults?"

"Yes. There's rarely any vampire children anyway. Its a bit taboo to turn a child. Have you seen Interview With The Vampire?"

"Oh yeah."

"What happened to Claudia is another realistic scenario. A child can age mentally but not physically and it causes turmoil when the child grows up and is basically an adult in a kid's body. That's why it's taboo for most vampires. So adopting other adults happens all the time. Plus, it happens in a few mortal cultures too. If you just want to verbally say we're brother and sister, that's fine but you can do it legally too and get some legal rights. Say I am killed, as my legal sister, you would be in charge of funeral arrangements and inherit anything I wanted to leave you and no one would be able to dispute that since you are officialy my sister. If we just told everyone we're brother and sister without a certificate to prove it, you could be shut out of inheritance or funeral plans, although I seriously doubt anyone here would do that to you. But since you're awake, we could do that now and you'd be my official sister tonight if you still want to be turned."

"I'd love to do that but will you be okay without sleep?"

"Yeah, I can go a day without sleep. It won't hurt me. Besides, I'll treat you to a meal at the Garden Cafe since you missed The Crypt."

"I'd  love to do that."

"Then follow me, Sis, and we'll go make our siblinghood official!"


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Eight 

Stevie and Richard walked into Richard and Ken's room with Sulamith following them. Stevie bit her lip, stifling her laughter when Richard pointed at Morgan and Colbie in his bed and yelled silently in mock rage. They looked at everyone. Ken was in his bed with his back to the wall while Diane was on her side facing him. She was snuggling against him and Stevie was overjoyed to see a smile on Ken's face while he slept peacefully. Morgan and Colbie were on their sides in Richard's bed. Morgan was against the wall and Colbie had her back to her while she slept. They were about to leave when Colbie began to stir. She opened her eyes and Stevie waved at her. 

"Good morning," she said softly to Colbie. 

"Hey, I thought all vampires slept during the day," Colbie said softly. 

"He's a light sleeper," Stevie said. "Actually, we're going down to the vampire city. I'm going to adopt him as my brother." 

"Cool. Can I come and watch?" 

"Sure. We're eating at the Garden Cafe too so I'll treat you both to a meal," Richard said. 

Colbie carefully sat up so as not to wake her mother or Morgan. Gently, she stood up and picked up Sulamith. Following everyone out of the room. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

After leaving a note for her mother and sister, telling them where she was going, she went down to the subway platform with Stevie and Richard. As they waited for the subway, Stevie asked Colbie about her turning. 

"I can't wait. Morgan's going to do it too and of course, Mom. Dad's tickled pink. Our family is finally together." 

Stevie smiled and squeezed her shoulder. Five minutes the later, the subway pulled into the station. The three of them sat together and talked softly while a few other people occupied the same car. Stevie didn't see too many people on the train when it pulled up but she figured that was because it was daytime and probably most vampires were asleep. She had a thought and asked Richard about other vampires being awake during the daytime since they were conducting business during daylight hours. 

"Some vampires choose to work during the day and sleep at night like mortals. They get paid more and often get bonuses if they do that," Richard said. 

"And it doesn't mess them up?," Stevie said. 

"Well, it takes a bit of effort to fight the urge to sleep but you can train your body to sleep at night." 

They got off the train four stops down from their house. This part of the city had alot of tall buildings made of both concrete and glass. Looking up, Stevie saw a huge circular light that seemed as big as Madison Square Garden. It was far, far above them. Stevie looked at Richard, who was now holding Colbie's hand. She asked about it and Richard and Colbie stopped. Colbie gazed up at the white light in confusion. 

"That's how they light the city," Richard said. "Obviously there's no sun underground so there's a bunch of these artificial suns all over the city. They keep them lit day and night." 

Stevie was impressed. Yet another fascinating thing about the vampire world. 

"What is that thing connected to? Its huge!," Colbie said. 

"It's embedded in the earth somehow but whatever is anchoring it, it's holding it firmly. Thirty years and I've never heard of any of the suns falling...anywhere. This is how they light everything underground, all over the world." 

Stevie and Colbie shared an impressed look before they continued on. Two blocks down, they stopped in front of a thirty floor glass building. 

"This is basically our city hall," Richard said, gesturing to the building. "We want to go to the adoption office. We sign some papers and I'll pay a little fee and we get copies of the paperwork plus a certificate saying we are siblings." 

They went inside. The interior was large and airy. The floor was white marble and there was a large marble fountain in the middle of it. Beyond that was a glass desk where a young vampire receptionist sat typing on a computer. Behind her was a stainless steel wall with three elevators. Richard walked up to the receptionist who stopped working and smiled at her. To Stevie's surprise, Richard spoke to the woman in Ashkaddian and the woman replied in Ashkaddian also. Stevie loved hearing them speak it. 

"Isn't that the vampire language?," Colbie said to Stevie. 

"Yes," Stevie said, nodding. 

"And we'll be learning that?" 

"Actually, Richard said it comes automatically to you when you change, you suddenly become fluent in it." 

"Good. I'd like to watch the vampire shows without reading the translation." 

"Yeah, me too." 

Richard finished his conversation and motioned for the women to follow him to the elevators. 

"I'm guessing she can speak English," he said after pushing the up button for the elevator. This is America, after all. But you guys have never heard us speak Ashkaddian before so I thought I'd show off and demonstrate." 

"Aha, so there was an ulterior motive," Stevie said. 

"Oh there's always an ulterior motive to everything I do. For instance, I'm going to make Colbie my mate so I can drive Ken crazy," he said, winking at Colbie. 

"Dad might come after you then," Colbie teased him. 

"Ha! I'm not afraid of old Cutlass. Let him try to get the best of me!" 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. 

"Why do you call Dad, Cutlass?," Colbie asked as they walked inside the elevator. 

Richard pushed the number nine button. 

"Before digital and computers, editing music was done with a razor blade. Your father did most of these edits. You have to mark the area you want to cut on the tape and then cut it with the razor blade, then you splice in a section of tape from another tape reel. Your father did so much cutting and splicing, I started calling him Cutlass." 

The elevator stopped and everyone got out. Richard pointed to a door at the end of a long corridor. It was a wood door with a huge pane of glass in the middle of it. Painted on the glass in big black lettering was UNDEAD ADOPTION. Under that in smaller block letter was MON THRU FRI 8 AM - 5 PM and under that was the same thing translated into Ashkaddian. Beside the door was a small brass mailbox. Again, Stevie was struck by how similar this place was to a lot of offices she'd seen in her life. They walked to the door and Richard opened it. Inside, the room was officelike with brown carpeting and several leather covered chairs against the wall by the door. In the corner beside the chairs was a small brown table with a lamp on it and a stack of magazines, most of them in Ashkaddian, Stevie noticed. In front of them was a large wooden desk with another young woman sitting behind it. On the desk was a computer, stacks of papers and two plastic trays stacked on top of each other in the corner. The top one had a laminated piece of paper taped on the front that said OUT, the bottom tray had a similar one that said IN. There was a small desklamp between the trays and computer and pens and pencils in a small brown cup near the lamp. Off to the right was a doorway and behind the woman were three open doors that led to offices. In one of the offices, a young man sat at a desk, intently filling out paperwork. Stevie noticed there were no windows in the offices but she figured that was because being underground didn't offer much of a view. There was a speaker mounted in the ceiling that was piping musak into the room. Richard nodded at the woman when she looked at them. 

"Hello. I'd like to speak to someone about adopting this woman," Richard said, gesturing to Stevie. 

"Okay. What will the relationship be between you and her?," the women asked. 

"Brother and sister." 

The woman nodded. She opened a desk drawer beside her left leg and pulled out a manilla folder filled with paperwork. She shut the drawer and looked back at the man inside the office. 

"Tony, these people are wanting to adopt," she said to him. 

Tony looked up from his work, smiled and beckoned to them to come inside. They walked around the desk and entered the office. Now that they were inside, Stevie could see two leather chairs in front of the desk and a matching leather couch on the right side of the wall. There were metal filing cabinets on the left side of the couch and on.the right side was a brown table with a lamp and magazines. Beside the door was an oak bookcase filled with books. On the left side was a painting of a cottage in the woods that was in a gold frame and over the couch was a gold framed painting of a sailing ship at sea.   

Richard and the two women shook Tony's hand as he welcomed them and then Richard and Stevie sat in the chairs while Colbie sat on the sofa. For the next hour, Tony went through the paperwork with them, explaining what needed to be done. Stevie notice all the paperwork was in Ashkaddian so she had no idea what it said, although Richard seemed agreeable to it and she thought it would be nice to be able to acquire the ability to read and understand it once she was turned. Then Richard was asked to sign some things while Tony stepped out to use the restroom. Stevie noticed that Richard wasn't signing his name in English but Ashkaddian. He wrote down a series of hieroglyphs and drew a kind of oval around what he'd written. He beckoned to Colbie to come to him and when she got up and stood behind him, he pointed to what he just wrote and showed it to Stevie. 

"This is how I write my name in Ashkaddian," he said to the women while he pointed to the hieroglyphs. "They prefer you write it like this if you're a vampire. You're mortal so you can sign your name in English," he said to Stevie. 

"What's the little oval for, around your name?," Stevie asked, pointing to the writing. 

"Cartouche. It's from ancient Egyptian days. Pharoahs used to have their names in cartouches. It just lets someone know it's someone's name, nothing more." 

"Is everything based on ancient Egypt?," Colbie asked. 

"In the vampire world? No. Just the writing system and the language. As you can see, I'm not dressed like an ancient Egyptian or anything like that. It's an ancient language so that's why I think it's based on ancient Egyptian. That was one of the dominant languages when they developed it." 

"Cool. And we'll be able to speak it?" 

"After you turn, yes. Speak, read and write it." 

He then turned his attention to Stevie and showed her the paperwork she needed to sign, briefly explaining what was on each form so she'd understand. Stevie noticed that on most of the paperwork, the hieroglyphs weren't as well defined as they were at the top and bottom of the forms. To her, it looked like the glyphs had been written quickly. When she asked about it, Richard nodded. 

"Yeah. It's called hieratic. It's like the cursive writing form of Egyptian. They do that to save time. Hieroglyphs are like when you print something and hieratic is like cursive. If you look at a newspaper. The headlines are written in hieroglyphs and the articles are written in hieratic." 

Stevie nodded, fascinated once again. She signed the paperwork, disappointed that she didn't know her name in Ashkaddian since to her, her signature stuck out among the hieroglyphs and hieratic on the page.   
Richard continued to explain everything to her briefly as she signed the paperwork. As she listened and Colbie watched over Richard's shoulder, she realized that bueracracy seemed to be alive and well in the vampire world too since there were a lot of different forms to sign. She was thankful Richard understood it because she sure as hell didn't. 

As she finished signing, Tony came back in and sat back down. He was holding some paperwork in his hands and once they were finished, he exchanged his paperwork for theirs, explaining that was their copies and certificate, indicating the adoption was legal. Stevie looked at the certificate. It was on stiff, white paper with a thin golden border but everything on it was written in Ashkaddian and she figured until she could read it, she'd have to trust it said that she and Richard were now siblings. 

After that, Tony congratulated them and handed them back the manilla folder to put their paperwork in. Richard slid the paperwork and certificate inside the folder and Colbie took it from him as he and Stevie stood up to shake hands with Tony and accept his congratulations. Finished, Richard then smiled at his new sister before everyone left the office.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty Nine 

After paying the receptionist with his credit stick, everyone left the building. On the way back to the subway, Richard noticed a jewelry store. He stopped everyone and they followed him while he went inside. 

A little bell tinkled over the door as they entered and a middle aged man dressed in a business suit emerged from a doorway at the back of the store and stood behind a long glass case filled with jewelry. To either side of him were more glass cases filled with diamonds and jewelry and behind him on the wall was a glass display case filled with rings that had diamond, ruby, emeralds and sapphire stones. Soft music was coming from hidden speakers and there was black carpeting on the floor. 

Richard walked up to the man and spoke Ashkaddian to him, which raised Stevie's suspicions. This time she had the feeling he wasn't showing off. The man looked at her intently while Richard talked and Stevie figured they were here for her. But then he glanced at Colbie and nodded before he walked through the doorway into the back. 

"What's going on, Vamp Boy?," Stevie asked. 

"Why, nothing at all, why do you ask?," Richard said innocently. 

"Yeah, right," she said while Colbie giggled. 

The man emerged from the back with a velvet tray. He laid it down on the counter in front of them and Stevie saw five gold necklaces with five cartouche pendants. All of the pendants had Ashkaddian writing and she had no idea what they said. But Richard was studying them intently before selecting the one in the center. The man nodded and laid it on the counter before taking the tray into the back room. 

"Is that for me?," Stevie asked, pointing at the necklace. 

"Nah, it's for Ken. I want to give my sweetie a necklace," Richard said, an impish grin on his face. "Nah, it's for you. Like it?" 

"Yes. It's pretty but what does it say?" 

"Beloved sister." 

Stevie's breath caught in her throat. Richard smiled and gave her a sideways hug. 

"You shouldn't though It must be expensive." 

"Nah. Not that expensive," Richard said. "Besides, I want to give you something special to mark the occasion." 

"Thank you," Stevie said. 

The man reemerged with the tray. This time there were gold and silver rings on them, each of them with a gemstone mounted on the front. 

"Colbie, pick one," Richard said. "I want to give you a gift too." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes. Go ahead and if your father complains, I'll thump em." 

Colbie grinned. She looked at the assortment of rings before settling on a silver one with an emerald stone. 

"Is that your size?," Richard asked. 

Colbie tried it on but it was a bit small. 

"Do you have this ring in a bigger size?," Richard asked in English. 

"Certainty, sir," the man said. "Wait here a moment." 

Colbie gave him the ring and he took the ring and the tray to the back. 

"Things aren't as expensive here as they are up top," Richard said to them. "There isn't runaway inflation and there are laws against price gouging, so a ring and necklace here costs far less than it would in LA." 

Colbie's phone went off. She pulled it out, looked at the screen and smiled before answering it. 

"Hey, Mom," she said before chatting with her. 

As she talked to her mother, the jeweller came back out holding a slightly bigger size of Colbie's ring. Colbie told her mom to wait before setting the phone down on the counter. She tried on the ring and nodded to Richard when it fit her perfectly. 

"I'll take both," Richard said to the man. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

After paying for the purchases, they left the store and headed for the subway station. Both women were wearing their jewelry proudly. Stevie was so glad she made the decision to do this. It was nice having a younger brother she actually liked. She felt herself becoming more and more acclimated to the vampire world now and she felt with each passing minute that she needed to be a part of it. Apart from a few good friends, everyone she cared about was a part of this world and she felt no qualms about joining them here forever. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

The Garden Cafe was two stops down from where they were, halfway between city hall and their house. The interior was pleasant and elegant with white walls that had an ivy vine motif painted around the top of the wall a few inches down from the ceiling. The tables and chairs were made of cherry wood and the carpet was a dark brown. Italian music was playing from hidden speakers and the wait staff was dressed in tuxedos and long black dresses. It was extremely classy.

A hostess in a long black dress led them to a small square table near the door. They sat down and ordered some drinks when a waitress walked over to them. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

"So is your mom okay?," Richard asked Colbie as they ate their food. 

The menu had a surprising selection of food, given the Italian atmosphere. Richard ordered a cheeseburger and fries, Colbie order fried chicken with baked potato and green beans and Stevie had some spaghetti and meatballs and a couple of slices of garlic bread. Stevie had a glass of wine, Colbie had milk and Richard had Coke. The food was excellent and Stevie believed Richard when he said some of the best chefs worked here. She definitely would come back again. She also noticed she and Colbie weren't the only mortals present. A few other mortals were dining with vampires and seemed like they were enjoying themselves. But while Stevie was eating, she felt Richard lay a hand on her shoulder and heard Colbie gasp rather than answer Richard's question. 

She looked at them and noticed they were looking at something near the front entrance. Stevie followed their gaze and was stricken with horror when she saw a man leading a mortal slave towards a table. The woman was young, probably in her early twenties and she had a defeated demeanor about her and her eyes were downcast as she was led with a leather collar and leash towards the table. Stevie felt sick to her stomach watching this horrifying scene. What made her feel better was she wasn't the only one outraged. Some vampires near the man's table were hurling epithets and insults at him. The man sneered at them as he sat in a chair and the slave knelt beside the chair and stared at the floor, dejected. 

"I'm sorry, Stevie. This is what I was warning you about," Richard said softly to her. 

Stevie nodded, too choked up to speak and Richard put his arm around her and Colbie who was also distraught. Stevie suddenly lost her appetite and she laid her fork down beside her plate. Richard, seeing that, asked both women if they wanted to leave. Stevie and Colbie nodded and Richard apologized again before they started to get up. 

Just then, the vampires near the slave owner's table got up and confronted him. Richard and the women sat back down, watching the scene play out. The vampires were yelling and pointing at the slave who looked petrified at suddenly being the center of attention. Then security appeared and to Stevie's dismay, they were accosting the people who were trying to defend the slave and ordering them to sit down and be quiet or leave. Richard put a hand on her shoulder when Stevie let out a ragged sigh when the vampires sat down and shut up, leaving the slave owner to smirk and gloat silently at them. 

"Come on, guys, let's get outta here," Richard said. 

Stevie and Colbie nodded and Richard signaled the waitress to come so he could request the check.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty 

Stevie's mood was alternately despondent and angry as she, Richard and Colbie rode on the subway back to the house. The joyful mood was killed entirely by the slave owner and the security and the restaurant who defended the abhorrent practice because down here it was the law. Richard was sympathetic to both her and Colbie and she was grateful to him. She was glad there were vampires who disagreed with the law and were working to abolish it. She just prayed that they could do it soon so that young woman could be freed, although she had a feeling a lot of slaves would be killed by their masters before they were freed. 

"Are you okay?"

Stevie looked at Richard and saw the concern on his face. 

"I'm better than I was, I'm still upset though." 

"I know. I'm sorry. I tried to prepare you for that. I suppose you could call it culture shock. I had the same reaction the first time I saw it." 

"We're you warned?" 

"Yeah. Felice, Ben, Frank, Balth and several others in the clan house. But it was still a shock. Frank told me it even shocked him and he grew up in a slave owning culture. Some vampires are sadistic assholes that like to debase their slaves and parade them around in public to break their spirits and kill their souls. It's disgusting." 

"And you can't reason with them?," Colbie said. 

"Not usually. Sometimes, yes. But a lot of slaveowners and slavehunters are psychopaths who don't give a crap about anyone except themselves. People are just objects to them so they have no problem with subjugating them." 

They looked over when two young vampires on the other side of the car began a heated argument that quickly became a shouting match. 

"I think we should get off at the next stop and get on the next subway," Richard said, tensing his body as the argument turned into a shoving match. 

Then the two men opened their mouths, bared their fangs and hissed at each other. By then the subway car was pilling into the station and Richard and the women stood up. When the doors opened, they hurried out, turned and watched as the fight became heated again as the doors closed and the car sped off. 

"We're one stop away from the house but I wasn't about to sit there and have one vampire punch the other and knock him into me." 

"I loved the whole hissing like cats thing, that was funny," Colbie said. 

"Yeah. Was that a macho tactic to scare one another?" 

Richard chuckled. 

"Posturing. Kinda like hissing cats, yes. Basically, it means back off or you'll be sorry. So yes, it is a macho tactic." 

He bared his fangs at the women and hissed at them. 

"Little bro, you're the least threatening person I know," Stevie said. "So the hissing cat thing looks even more ridiculous on you than on those jerks." 

"You weren't complaining about me being nonthreatening when I was saving your life the other night." 

"Yeah but when you knocked that guy unconscious, you weren't hissing like a snake." 

Richard grinned. He looked over his shoulder when two men came up the escalator to the platform. Both men were burly. Both of them wore blue jeans and black leather jackets. One was wearing a blue t-shirt, the other one white. One was shaved bald with a hard chiseled face, the other one had a baby face with long hair that went down to just past his shoulder blades. Both men nodded at Richard and he nodded back as they walked over to the edge of the platform about twenty feet from them. 

"Do you still want me to link your mind with mine?," Richard asked Stevie. 

"Yes." 

"Do you want me to link minds with you, Colbie?" 

"What is that?" 

While he explained it, Stevie heard an announcement in Ashkaddian and assumed it was the announcement that the next train was coming. She noticed the two men were coming closer to them. They stopped about five feet away and resumed their conversation. By the time Richard was finished explaining to Colbie what a mind link was, the train was pulling into the station. The men got behind Stevie, Richard and Colbie as the doors slid open. They followed them inside and stood by the doors while Stevie and the others sat down across from them. Then just as the doors were about to close, the men suddenly sped forward, grabbed Stevie and Colbie and sped out just as the door shut. Richard wasn't fast enough and he beat on the door in a rage, yelling in frustration as the men stood on the platform with their squirming captives held tightly against their bodies, taunting Richard by yelling out to him that Suzanne says hello.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty Two 

After coming to a decision, everyone crowded into the elevator downstairs. On the way down, everyone was silent, lost in their thoughts. Ken kept his family close to him while Lindsey stared blankly into space up near the front, lost in thoughts of Stevie. Richard was also staring off into space, lost in his guilt, and Diane walked over and hugged him, repeating again that it wasn't his fault. Richard smiled and thanked her but Diane could still see the guilt in his eyes. 

The elevator door opened and everyone froze when two burly men were standing in front of them. 

"THAT'S THEM. THOSE ARE THE ONES WHO TOOK STEVIE AND COLBIE!," Richard yelled. 

Suddenly, all the vampires went from depressed to enraged. The two men bared their fangs and hissed at them. The mortal women stepped back and were amazed to see all the vampires shapeshift into wolves. Diane could see the two thug vampires were surrounded and quickly overwhelmed by her husband and friends who bit, snapped, clawed and scratched with no mercy. Diane could see her husband, a dark brown wolf, chomping down on the neck of one of the strangers, holding onto it like a vise while Lindsey bit his ears and snout. 

One of the thugs got out from under everyone and Diane gasped when he turned his body towards them, intending to spring at them but a gray wolf with black streaks in his fur saw him and leapt out of the pack, putting himself between the man and the mortal women. 

"I don't think so," Richard said, snarling at the man. "What did you do with Stevie and Colbie?" 

"I'm not telling," the man snarled back. 

"I believe you will," Christine said, coming up behind him. "I believe both you and your friend will tell us exactly where they're at." 

Two more wolves joined them, a light brown one and a dark grey one.  The dark grey one opened his mouth in what Diane swore was a grin. 

"We done took care of your friend over there," Frank said as he smiled at the man. "Y'all don't have a prayer now." 

Diane looked over at the other man. He was sprawled out on his side now, unconscious while the remaining wolves joined their friends in surrounding the man. She could tell all of them were gloating. 

"Shouldn't have stalked us, mate," Mick said as he and his friends tightened the circle around him. "Shoulda laid low instead of following us like the wankers you are." 

Richard held back and stayed in front of the women, protecting them while keeping a wary eye on their adversary. The man tried to rise up in the air but his enemies matched him and John and Chris rose up and over him, blocking him from going higher. 

"Give up or we'll rip your head off," Chris snarled at him. 

"Go back down to the ground or we'll rip your head off," John added. "Now!," 

Lindsey yelled at him. Everyone except the man and Richard changed back into their human form. They still hovered in the air but all of them grabbed the wolf, forcing him to the ground where they lay on him. 

"Guys, keep him like that. I'll get the suppressors," Richard said. 

Richard morphed back into his human form. Diane followed him as he scanned his hand and the elevator slid open. 

"What's a suppressor?," she asked as the door closed. 

As the elevator went up, Richard quickly explained what suppressors were. The doors slid open and Diane followed Richard into the basement. He went to the right side of the wall below the stairs and opened another secret door in the wall, this one a small square hiding place. Inside were several leather collars with black boxes on them. Richard grabbed two of them and closed the door. He and Diane went back into the elevator and headed back down. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

After the collars were secure around their necks, Ken carried the unconscious man in his arms while the others surrounding the one still on his feet. 

"So...where are our missing friends?," Mick said to the conscious man. 

"Might as well tell us," Lindsey added when the man glared at Mick. "I doubt you'll enjoy being strapped into a mind probe machine." 

"You do anything to me and the bitches will die," the man said. 

He grunted when Lindsey seized his throat. 

"Your friends or Suzanne do anything to them and you die!," he snarled. 

The man was about to say something flippant but then he saw the naked rage on Lindsey's face and he wisely kept his mouth shut. Ken stood near Richard who was still guarding the mortal women. Ken looked at his friend. 

"Boy, it's a good thing I have super strength so I'm able to carry this fat turd without getting a hernia." 

Ken was relieved to see a smile returning to Richard's face on hearing that. He inched closer to Richard. 

"I don't blame you, no one does," he said. 

The smile fell off Richard's face. 

"I still should have been more aware of my surroundings," he said. "Shoulda known from the looks of these guys that they were up to no good." 

"Yeah but you can't go around assuming every muscle bound guy is a slavehunter. You had no reason to suspect them and I know you weren't expecting them to pull Stevie and Colbie off the subway before the doors closed. You are extremely protective of the people you care about. Hell, I saw that almost from the time I started working with you. And we'll get them back, safe and sound, don't worry. I would give you a reassuring pat on the shoulder but my arms are full of Chunky Butt at the moment." 

"Then allow me." 

Diane patted his shoulder and kissed his cheek. Richard glanced at her for a moment before looking at Ken. 

"She's mine, you know," Richard said, pointing back to her. 

"Oh no she's not, Dashut, she's mine." 

"But you're legally dead which means that your marriage is annuled. So...dibs." 

"Do you want me to throw Fatass on you?," Ken said while Diane and Morgan giggled. 

"Come on, Diane's liked me since she was a receptionist at the Village Recorder. Why, I'd come in every morning and there she'd be at her desk saying smutty things to me." 

Ken looked at Diane who was giggling harder. 

"And what kind of smutty things did you say to him, darling?," he said. 

"Um...I usually said good morning, Richard to him." 

"That's it. Her sweet voice saying that was like smutty porn to my ears." 

"Oh Jeeeesus," Ken moaned, rolling his eyes while the mortal women laughed. "Like I told my wife, how I managed to come out of that time sane is a mystery to me." 

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?," Lindsey said, coming up behind Ken. 

"Yeah, Richard is a dork and my hands are full of fatass, those are my two biggest problems right now." 

Lindsey looked at Richard before walking over and taking the glasses off his face. He gave them to Diane before walking back to Ken. 

"There. Now he's not so dorky," Lindsey said. 

"Actually, the glasses isn't what makes him dorky. He's just naturally dorky." 

"I see. Well, nothing I can do about that then, or about the fatass, except..." 

Without warning, Lindsey hauled off and punched the unconscious man hard in the face. 

"How does that help me?," Ken asked.   
"It doesn't but it sure as hell makes me feel better," Lindsey said with a shrug. 

Ken and Richard chuckled at that while Lindsey shrugged again. He stared at the man before punching his face again. 

"Yup, that works wonders for my rage and frustration," Lindsey said before he walked back over to his other friends.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty Four 

Stevie sat beside Colbie on the dirty concrete floor of the unclean room that functioned as their cell. After watching Richard being foiled in his attempt to rescue them, the vampires used the Voice on them. Stevie didn't remember anything else until she and Colbie were awakened in the cell. So she had no idea where she was or how long they'd been there. There wasn't anything in the cell apart from a soiled mattress and several roaches that scurried across the floor, even though the florescent light on the ceiling was kept on. Both she and Colbie busied themselves squashing roaches for awhile but gave up when more kept coming from cracks in the bottom of the walls. Other than that and the windowless room, there was nothing else. 

They had finally met Suzanne. She came in about a half hour after they came out of her trance to gloat. The woman didn't look like much to Stevie. Suzanne was nearly as short as she was with a plain, ugly face and sandy blond hair that was pulled back into a French braid. She had on a plain white T-shirt, blue jeans and dirty white sneakers and she had a crazed look in her eyes that Stevie found unsettling. Looking at her, Stevie wished she'd been turned into a vampire sooner or at least got the chance to link minds with Richard, although she doubted either thing would be much good right now since she had no idea where she was and Suzanne could use a suppressor on her to weaken her. 

Suzanne stood a few feet in front of them, gloating at Stevie with a sneer that Stevie wanted to slap off her face. 

"So...I finally got you," Suzanne gloated. 

"Yeah, you finally got me. And if you think getting rid of me will make Lindsey run to you, I'd guess again." 

"Oh, I'm using you as bait," Suzanne said dismissively. "I left a note for him telling him to give himself up or you get auctioned off to a new owner." 

The image of the slave girl kneeling in the restaurant came unbidden into her mind and Stevie had to suppress a shudder at the thought and remain calm. She didn't want the crazy bitch to see her fear. She glanced at Colbie who was also trying to be brave, although Stevie could see fear in her eyes. She was worried more for her than she was for herself. 

"What about Colbie?," Stevie said. 

"Who?," Suzanne said. 

Stevie sighed. 

"Colbie Caillat," Stevie said, nodding her head at the younger woman. "Your other hostage. Learn someone's name before you kidnap them." 

With lightning speed, Suzanne zoomed over and smacked Stevie so hard on the face, her head snapped back and for one terrifying moment, Stevie thought her neck would snap and break. The slap felt like a sledgehammer slamming into her face and she realized her friends weren't kidding about having super strength. the side of her face was burning and stinging and it took everything Stevie had not to tear up from the pain.

"DON'T YOU SASS ME, BITCH, OR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF," Suzanne snarled, her fangs showing as she put her face inches from Stevie. "As for Colbie Cheese here, I suppose I'll put her up for auction too. I could use the extra money." 

"I wouldn't if I were you, not if you want her father beating the shit outta you." 

"Really? Who is her daddy? Richard?" 

"No. Richard's last name is Dashut. She's Ken Caillat's daughter,"Stevie said, condescendingly. "I thought you were a huuuuuge Fleetwood Mac fan. Most of our fans make it their business to know the tiniest minutiae of our lives, including things like the names of our families and friends, our birthdays, middle names and...the names of the producers of most of our albums. If you were a real fan like you claim to be, you'd know who Colbie Caillat was and who she's related to. Or are you only fixated on Lindsey and his massive dick and don't care about the rest of Fleetwood Mac?" 

She knew she was being flippant,  and possibly risking another assault by her demented captor but she didn't care. She could see why her lover and friends thought of this woman as a stupid bitch. The woman was nothing but an idiotic, insecure little bully who'd probably been bullied her entire life and was now lashing out at the rest of the world. She guessed she'd probably never been laid, choosing instead to lay on her bed at home and finger herself while she stared at photos of Lindsey she'd taped to her wall. If she wasn't a vampire, Stevie felt sure she could wipe the floor with the ugly, little brat. Thankfully, Suzanne didn't do anything more to her or Colbie, instead letting a little snort of contempt escape her nose before she turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her and locking the two women in their cells.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Five 

Ken and Diane were alone in the infirmary. The others had left the room, shutting the door to give them privacy when Diane let them know she was ready to be turned. Ken made sure there was plenty of blood in the mini fridge, both for her and for his daughter when it was her turn. Morgan finally decided that her father would be the one to turn her since she trusted him the most. So Ken was planning to turn her next. He lay in bed with his wife, stroking her cheek. 

"I'm a little nervous about this," he said softly. "I've never turned anyone before. Its just hard to believe that my family is going to be with me at last." 

"I can't believe I'm with you again after all these years. I prayed that you'd come back to me and here you are." 

"Well, I just wish I'd done this earlier instead of hiding like a wimp." 

"Eh, better late than never," Diane said. 

Ken kissed her lips. They kissed passionately on the lips for a few minutes before Ken pushed her hair back away from her neck. He kissed along her jugular vein as he caressed her body. 

"Ready, my love?," he whispered in her ear. 

"Ready when you are," Diane whispered back. 

Ken kissed her lips before he went back to kissing and running his tongue along the length of her jugular vein, the scent of her blood filling his nostrils at the same time her steady, calm heartbeat filled his ears. He reached up under her shirt and pulled up her bra, fondling her breasts while Diane closed her eyes and moaned. 

"I love you, my darling," he whispered in her ear. 

"And I love you, my darling husband," Diane murmured, her eyes closed. "Forever." 

"Then join me, my love, for all eternity." 

"Yes. I want to be with you forever." 

Ken kissed her cheek. He paused a moment letting his canines elongate into fangs before he went back to kissing along her jugular vein. Then, when he sensed she was completely relaxed, he bit gently into her jugular vein. Diane gasped at the sharp pain but Ken kept fondling her and she relaxed again while Ken gently fed on her. This turning was a total 180 from his own where there'd been nothing but pain and fear and confusion and the sneering face of his attacker looming over him as he slowly became weaker from blood loss. That's why he was glad he could give his wife a different experience than the one he had. 

As he continued to feed, he felt his wife weakening from blood loss and his breathing becoming shallower while her heartbeat began to slow. 

"Ken," Diane gasped out. "Don't leave me." 

"Never, my love," Ken whispered in her ear before he went back to feeding on her. 

Finally, he sensed it was time. Diane was barely alive, her breathing and heartbeat both faint. Her mouth was hanging open as she struggled for the next breath of air. Ken leaned up, bit hard into his arm below the wrist, making two puncture wounds. As his blood seeped out, he quickly put the wounds over Diane's open mouth, letting the drops of blood drip into her mouth before his body healed the wounds. 

"Drink, my darling, swallow my blood," he whispered in her ear. 

He kissed her cheek when he heard her swallowing. He held her tight, waiting for the next step. It came ten seconds later. Diane's body began to convulse as it began to die. Ken held her tightly, murmuring in her ear not to be afraid but let go and pass into the darkness. He sensed fear and resistance but he kept gently urging her, murmuring in her ear to let go and not be afraid. Finally, after a minute of struggle, Diane finally relaxed and breathed her last and slipped into temporary limbo while Ken kissed her forehead and murmured his love for her. Ken stroked her cheek and watched silently as the color drained from her face and body and he smiled when he noticed a lot of her age lines and wrinkles were vanishing. She didn't age back to her twenties but she looked years younger than she did seconds before. Ken stared at her silently, lost in her beauty. Then suddenly, Diane's body jerked and her eyes snapped open. Ken kissed her forehead and nuzzled it with his nose. 

"Welcome to your new life, my love," he said to her as he stroked her cheek. 

Diane was confused and disoriented but Ken was expecting that. Diane finally looked at him. 

"Did it work?," she said softly. 

"Oh yes, it worked. You're immortal now," he said, gazing at her lovingly. "Are you thirsty?" 

"Yes," Diane said weakly. 

Ken got up and walked over to the mini fridge. He poured some blood into a glass from a small plastic jug in the fridge. He closed the door and walked back to his wife. Sitting on the bed, he helped her sit up and helped her sit as he put the glass of blood to her lips. As she weakly sipped the blood, Ken smiled, sensing his wife's thoughts in his mind and sensing her exhaustion as she drank the blood. He'd never linked with anyone and the feeling of another mind in his own was strange but he liked it. It was comforting, sensing the thoughts and feelings of the woman he loved. He watched her lovingly while he held the glass to her lips. 

In the end, she drank two full glasses before she was finished. After she was done, Ken gently laid her back in the bed, made her comfortable and covered her up. He whispered his undying love for her and kissed her lips before he told her to rest. Diane smiled weakly at him before she closed her eyes and drifted off into an exhausted sleep.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Six 

"Wow, she's beautiful," Lindsey said. 

He and everyone else were gathered around Diane's bed, gazing at the newborn vampire while Diane slept peacefully, unaware of their presence. 

"So how does it feel, having her mind in yours?," Mick asked Ken. 

"Feels good. Very comforting. I know she's at peace right now," Ken said. 

He looked at his daughter. 

"Still wanna go through with it?" Ken asked her. 

"Yes." 

Ken pointed to the bed next to Diane's and told her to sit down. 

"I'm not gonna do this lying down since that would be uncomfortable for both of us," he said to Morgan. "I'm going to do it with you sitting up and hold on to you." 

Morgan nodded. She sat down on the bed while everyone watched. Ken walked over, sat down beside her and thought for a moment. 

"Okay...gotta think how best to relax you without it being sensual," Ken mused. "I don't want you to be afraid." 

Richard smiled. He walked over and sat down on Morgan's other side. 

"Howdy," he said to her. 

"Hi, Richard," Morgan said. 

"Okay, I am going to be your distraction for this afternoon and help your father get you through this, okay?" 

"Okay." 

"Okay, so what I want you to do is keep your eyes and attention focused on me. Me and your dad are gonna talk you through this without resorting to the Voice, okay?" 

Morgan nodded. 

"So...pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Just keep your eyes on me." 

"Okay." 

Richard nodded at Ken and Ken mouthed his thanks to his friend. 

"So...ever hear about your mom and dad's first date?," Richard said. 

"Not really." 

"No? Well, funnily enough, he took her to Dodger Stadium when we went to record the USC marching band for the Tusk song. I thought it was a bit odd for a first date since we were working and not supposed to be getting nooky but I suppose he was going to cross banging my future wife in the Dodgers dugout off his bucket list." 

"Shut up, Rich," Ken said while everyone laughed. 

"So, he combined business with pleasure that day..." 

He took Morgan's hand when she flinched at her father moving closer to her and pulling back her long, blonde hair back away from her neck. 

"Me, I was stuck with the console while he mainly went out and hobnobbed with the band, both the music band and the marching band. Everyone was there, except for John who ran his butt to Tahiti as soon as his bass parts were done. So, John was a wet blanket." 

"No, I was a dry blanket since I landed up on a Tahitian beach sunning myself," John said. 

"Yeah, we had to make do with a cardboard cutout of him instead," Lindsey said. "Which was unwieldy carrying around but by God, we did it." 

Richard squeezed Morgan's hand when he saw her flinch as Ken got close to her jugular vein. 

"Okay, I think your dad's about ready so...I think we'll count to three, yes?," he said to Ken who nodded. "Gonna be a little bit of pain but we'll get through it. Just concentrate on me. Ready?," he said to Ken. 

"Ready," Ken said. 

"Okay," Richard said gently, taking both of Morgan's hands. "Eyes on me, okay? You're safe here. Okay, count of three then. One...two...three!" 

Ken gently sank his fangs into Morgan's neck and Richard squeezed her hands when she gasped and flinched at the pain. 

"Okay, we're past a bad part now so just listen to me and let him feed," Richard said. "Anyway...it was quite a day, recording a marching band..." 

Richard continued to talk till he saw Morgan's eyes glaze over. Lindsey came around the bed and sat down, helping to hold her up as Morgan grew weaker and weaker. 

"It's okay," Richard said softly to her as the others came closer. "It's alright. You're safe. Just relax." 

"Dad...dy?," Morgan gasped. 

"I'm here, baby," Ken said in her ear. "I'm right here. I promise." 

Ken finished up as he and Lindsey gently rubbed her back, keeping her calm. Then when he was ready, he bit once more into his arm and Lindsey and Richard gently tilted her head back as Ken let the blood drip into her mouth. Then when the convulsions came, everyone gathered close to her, gently talking to her while Ken stroked his daughter's cheek and gently urged her to let go and not be afraid. Mick stroked her hair, Richard rubbed her arm and Lindsey rubbed her back while Ken whispered in her ear reassurances that he was with her and wouldn't leave her side. 

Finally, Morgan took one last shuddering breath and slipped away. They watched while her skin paled and the few age lines she had disappear. When she came back to them, Ken held her and kissed her cheek, soothing his frightened daughter. Christine came forward, holding a glass of blood and Richard took it from her and held it to her lips, letting her drink while Ken and Lindsey supported her. Ken continued to whisper love and encouragement in her ear while she fed, loving the sensation of her mind joining his wife's. 

She also had two glasses and when she was done, Christine took the glass away and Richard gathered her in his arms, standing up while Ken and Lindsey pulled the covers back and rearranged the pillow. Once they were done, Richard gently lay her in the bed and Ken and Lindsey covered her up. Ken kissed his daughter's cheek and whispered his love for her in her ear along with a whispered urging to go to sleep, promising he'd be there when she woke. 

"Daddy," Morgan whispered. 

Ken smiled and kissed his daughter's forehead, whispering his love for her once more as Morgan let sleep take her away.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty Seven 

After making sure both women were resting peacefully, Nefrure and everyone else sat in the main room, gathered together in a circle while they brainstormed ideas on how to rescue Stevie and Colbie. Nicodemus was gone, still interrogating the prisoners, and Lindsey had thought of an idea centered around them. 

"I'm saying we should go into their minds and brainwash them into helping us," Lindsey was saying to them. 

"You mean a mind link?," Felicia said, making a face, "I don't think I'd like that." 

"Yeah but we can do it with the mind probe machine too," Lindsey said. "And them one or two of us pretend to be captured and infiltrate the place." 

"Then I have a suggestion," Christine said. "Perhaps someone hide a homing device, that way we can pinpoint the exact location." 

"Somewhere on the body?," Karen said. 

"Yes. There are homing devices that are tiny that could be put under the tongue," Mick said. 

"But Suzanne might think to look there," Lindsey said. 

"Could put it up the arse," Mick said, grinning. 

"And are you volunteering for that, Fleetwood?," Ken said. 

"Nah, I thought you could do it and have Dashut be the one who inserts it," Mick said, wagging his eyebrows. 

"Y'all like your gay jokes," Frank said. "If I'd done that with my friends, they woulda either run the other way or shot me." 

"Yes, but Dashut and I have a special kind of...bromance...I believe is the term." 

"Yes, he's my Pooky Bear and I'm his Twinkle Drawers," Richard replied. 

Frank looked at Benjamin. 

"I'm telling ya. They would have ended up in the lunatic asylum back in my time," Frank said. 

"My time as well. Although supposedly a bit of...bromance went on in schools such as Eton. Just speculation, mind, since I never attended. I do know that calling another man Pooky Bear in the regiment would have been severely frowned upon." 

"I suppose that's what happens when you live long enough to make it to the 21st century," Frank said. 

"In all seriousness, though," John said. "If we did have someone use a honing device, who should go?" 

"Me," Richard said. "I'm a target too for that bitch so that would be a reason why the jackasses kidnapped me." 

"I'll go too," Ken said. "I could always say I was trying to rescue Colbie, which isn't a lie, but I think at least two should go for safety's sake." 

"What about your family?," John asked, nodding his head towards the bedroom. 

"I can't stop them from fighting but I have more experience fighting vampires than they do. If they're going to fight, I want them with you guys for safety's sake. You guys could protect them better than Richard and me could." 

"Plus, we need to concentrate on Stevie and Colbie in there," Richard said. 

"That'll be hard enough without adding Diane and Morgan to the mix." 

"I agree," Ken said. 

Richard thought for a moment. 

"I doubt they'd let us stay in the same room with them too," Richard said. "So I'm thinking, second homing device. Maybe we can convince them to let us see Stevie or Colbie..." 

"And slip it on them before we go," Ken said. 

"Yeah but really quickly so they don't see it since I'm sure they'd be watching us closely." 

"I have an idea then," Christine said. "One of you lot kiss them on the lips and put your hands on their face, then slip the homing signal behind their ear. Both of them have long hair so it could be easily hidden." 

"Ah, Chris, knew we could count on you for a genius idea," Ken said. 

Christine smiled and bowed at the waist while she sat in her chair. 

"The homing device is black though so y'all gotta do some slight of hand do they don't see it on your finger," Frank said. 

"That shouldn't be a problem, it's tiny so we can conceal it somewhere," Ken said. 

"So, we have to be David Copperfield as well as Mata Hari," Richard said. 

Ken suddenly looked at the infirmary door. 

"Morgan's awake," he said, getting up from his seat. "Hold on." 

"That's the other thing, we need to link minds as well," Mick said, watching as Ken went in the other room. 

He came back out a moment later, guiding Morgan, keeping a firm hold on her right arm and holding her right hand. Lindsey jumped up from his seat and helped Ken seat her in the chair. 

"You okay, Morgan?," Lindsey said as she sat down. 

"Better. Not dizzy now," Morgan said, looking up at him. "Thanks." 

"You needed to get blood back into your system," Ken said. "Its like being dehydrated. Your mom seems to be sleeping still." 

"Yeah. I heard you talking, like loudly, like I could hear you loud and clear like you were right in my ear." 

"It's your senses. They've been enhanced and they'll be out of whack for a day or two till your body adjusts to the change," Richard said. 

"Word of advice," Frank said. "You have super strength now too so be very mindful of picking up things or grabbing things or giving a playful shove to someone till you get used to it." 

Morgan nodded. 

"Except for Suzanne," Richard said. "Feel free to punch her head off when you see her." 

"I heard you making plans about pretending to be captured. What if they kill you?," Morgan said to Ken. 

Ken thought about that. 

"I suppose that's a possibility. But I have a feeling if she is planning to kill any of us, she'll wait till she has Lindsey so he'll be forced to watch." 

Morgan nodded. 

"Do you think she'd check for the homing devices?" 

"Maybe," Richard said, "which is why I suppose we'll have to do the suppository route. I doubt Suzanne will want to put her finger up our butts." 

"Nah, just Lindsey's," Mick said. 

"She better not put her finger up my ass or I'll break it off and shove it up her nose." 

"Actually, I have a thought," Felicia said. 

"And that thought is...," Ken said. 

"Let me make a small incision on your body and put the homing device inside the wound. Wound closes up and the device will be hid." 

"Felice, you are a genius too," Richard said. 

"I know," Felicia said with mock smugness. 

"I suggest then the arm," Nefrure said. 

"Yeah, upper arm somewhere," Richard said. "Too bad we couldn't do the same for Stevie and Colbie." 

"No but hopefully Dumb Dumb won't think of us planting homing devices on them," Lindsey said. "Have our little brainwashed captives feed her a story about how you were caught unawares so it doesn't seem like you had time to arm yourselves or put homing devices on your bodies." 

"Ambushed," Richard said. "Supposedly, we're not supposed to know they were following us anyway so we can just say we left the clan house and we're taken." 

"I tell you, this is why we were able to be up with something as wonderful as Rumours," Mick said. "If there's one thing we're good at, it's planning and brainstorming." 

"Well, should we tell Nicodemus so he can start brainwashing our guests?," Lindsey said. 

Everyone nodded. Ken and Richard helped Morgan stand up and they supported her on either side while everyone left to go talk to Nicodemus.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty Eight 

Morgan walked down a long corridor between her father and Lindsey who were helping to support her on either side. The corridor was behind a secret entrance that was on the right side of the golden room, away from Nicodemus's door. As they walked, Morgan noticed that the floor was sloping downward gently so they were going down with each step they took. Near the end of the corridor, two Deathwalkers stood guard on either side of a doorway. They were dressed like the ones who had taken the prisoners away, complete with swords on their backs. The masks had no eye, nose or mouth holes which creeped Morgan out. 

When they got to them, Nefrure told them to wait a moment while she told her mate they needed to see them. She walked past the guards while the others waited. The guard to the right looked over his shoulder at Nefrure before turning his head back around and pulling his hood up to his forehead. The man had a baby face, weak chin and light blue eyes. 

"Rich, long time no see," the man said. 

"Hey, Jack, on guard duty today?" 

The second guard pulled up his mask to his forehead and Morgan could tell from his facial features he was a black man, albeit deathly pale like everyone else. 

"Yeah, our turn today," the black man said with an African accent. "Nicodemus came down earlier with two captives. What's going on?" 

Lindsey briefly explained about Suzanne kidnapping Stevie and Colbie. Jack and the other guard shared a look when Lindsey finished explaining. 

"Knew that bitch would do something sooner or later," Jack said. "We know Stevie but who's Colbie?" 

"My daughter," Ken said. "And thus is my other daughter, Morgan. And over here is Karen, a friend of ours. Guys, this is Jack and this is Julius, long time friends." 

The women said hello while both men bowed to them. 

"So why your daughter then?." Julius said to Ken. "I get Stevie being abducted since I know the bitch hates her but what has your daughter got to do with it?" 

"Not sure but she wants Lindsey to surrender to her tomorrow night. Richard thinks she's extra leverage to get Lindsey to comply," Ken said. 

Jack shook his head. 

"Should flay that bitch alive when they catch her," Jack said. "She's a psychotic waste of space as far as I'm concerned. Nicodemus never shoulda let her join." 

"Do you need our assistance?," Julius asked. 

"Actually, we might. We're sending Ken and Richard in with homing devices," Lindsey said. "Once we locate them, we're going to their hideout and attacking." 

Jack and Julius glanced at each other. 

"Count us in then," Jack said while Julius nodded in agreement. "I'd love nothing more than to take that bitch down." 

"Nefrure," Mick mouthed to then, nodding his head forward as Nefrure came out of a room near the end of the second corridor. 

Jack and Julius quickly pulled their masks back down and adopted the rigid posture they had earlier while Nefrure beckoned to her friends to follow her. As they passed by Jack and Julius, the two of them were squeezing her dad and friends' shoulders and exchanging quick fist bumps with everyone. 

"You know a lot of people in here, Dad," Morgan said as they walked. 

"I know nearly everyone in the clan house. Most of them have been here a long time," Ken said. "Those two have been here longer than we have. They're very good friends." 

"So they'll help us?" 

"Oh yeah. In fact I think we could get most of the people in the clan house to help us if we wanted. No one I know of likes Suzanne. Everyone would be eager to take her down." 

"So, we have an army basically." 

"I believe so, yes." 

They stopped by a metal door near the end of the corridor. Nefrure opened it and everyone followed her inside. The room was concrete and lit by flaming torches on the walls. In the center of the room was a long metal table that one of the captives was strapped down to. The guy was the one that had still been conscious when they took him away. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with a blank look on his face. A cloth cap kinda like a swim cap was over the top of his head and strapped to his chin. Electrodes were spaced evenly all over it and all the electrodes had wires that led backwards to a small console behind the man's head. A small TV was on top of the console. 

On either side of the table were two Deathwalkers, a man and a woman. They were standing rigid like Jack and Julius but when Nicodemus walked past them, the woman quickly pulled up her mask, winked at Richard and pulled it back down again. 

"Ooo, your girl is here," Ken teased him. 

Richard chuckled when Morgan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Amber. She's a friend but we tease each other all the time about having a love affair," Richard said. "But that's all it is, teasing. She's a very good friend and that's all." 

"So he says," Ken murmured in his daughter's ear. 

While they talked, Lindsey stood near Nicodemus. Even though he was talking low, Morgan could now here every word that he was saying as if he were yelling it. She also could hear Karen's heartbeat and smell her blood amid a host of other scents. Colors also stood out more and were more intense to her. It was weird but her father and her friends seemed to hav no problem with it. She remembered too that they told her she'd be able to speak and understand Ashkaddian. She searched her memories and was astounded when she realized she did have knowledge of it. She looked at her father. 

"I love you, Dad," she said in Ashkaddian. 

Ken chuckled. 

"I love you too, my daughter, with all my heart. Do you understand me?" 

"Yes," she replied in Ashkaddian. 

"Good," Ken replied in English. 

"That is another ability you've gained now." 

"I can do the wolf thing too now?" 

"Yes. And the mist and flying and rapid healing. You're a full fledged vampire now." 

Lindsey came up to Ken and handed him a slip of paper with an address. 

"This is where they are according to the mind probe. Not far from the auction house on State Street." 

"Yeah, in fact I think I know what this place is," Ken said. "It's a Gladiator Club if I'm right." 

"Gladiator Club?," Morgan said to Lindsey while Ken signaled for Richard to come over to him. 

"It's a sadistic nightclub where enslaved humans are forced to battle each other or wild animals or pur through tortures for vampires' amusements. People usually drink and make bets. It's another legal thing at the moment. It's near the studio your dad and Richard co-own with their friends. That's how your dad knows what it is. But if you think of the kind of stuff they used to do in Rome in the arenas, that's what they do in these clubs. That's why they're called Gladiator Clubs." 

Richard came over to Ken and Ken showed him the address. 

"Is that the Gladiator Club near the studio?" 

Richard sighed angrily. 

"Yeah, I think so. Son of a bitch. They better not be putting Stevie and Colbie in the games there." 

"Yes. Because if they do, I'm gonna make the games look humane in comparison to what I'll do to Suzanne," Ken said. 

Karen walked up to them. 

"Do they really make people fight to the death there?," she said to Richard. 

"Yes. And sometimes the mortals are brainwashed into doing it and sometimes they're forced to do it on pain of torture and death. Never been in the club myself but we've had friends who spied on it. The middle of the club has this dirt floor with an oval ring of smooth plexiglass around it, too tall for anyone to climb out of. There's a huge trapdoor in the center of the arena where the mortals come up, along with animals and other things. The vampires gather around the walls, watch and bet on the outcome while they eat and get drunk. It's a barbaric, disgusting thing. And it's about a block from an auction house so they can always get fresh victims when they need them." 

"And we can see the auction house from our studio," Ken said. "We used to go outside for some air on our breaks but we stopped because you always hear screams and crying from that place along with the occasional whip crack. I wish the shithole would burn to the ground." 

"And you can't help those people, Dad?" 

"We try," Ken said. "We know people who pose as buyers and bid on slaves and set them free afterwards. The problem is we can't do that all the time in case someone figures out what our friends are doing and stops them. And there's always more people than we can possibly save so our friends generally try to save young women and possibly children if they have any. It's the only thing we can do without risking being arrested. Until they change the laws, it's all we can do to help. Richard and me have done that a couple of times but we don't do it often since we work right down the street. We don't want to become too well known to them, especially since some proslavery people target antislavery people for a beating or even worse." 

Morgan swallowed hard, imagining what the even worse part might mean. Ken put his arm around his daughter and kissed her cheek. Richard looked over his shoulder when Amber tapped him on the shoulder. She pulled her mask up past her eyes and gave him a coquettish smile. 

"Hey, Bug-a-boo, how come you never call me anymore?," she said, running her gloved finger down his cheek. 

"Because I'm too busy fantasizing about your luscious body and I lose track of time and forget to call you, Pumpkin." 

"Naughty boy, I'll have to punish you for that," Amber purred. 

"Ahem." 

Richard chuckled when Amber feigned disgust the moment she saw Ken. 

"What do YOU want?," she said, feigning anger. 

"Well, first I want not to throw up from all the gitchie goo talk going on between you and your horny boy toy and secondly, has the bastard screamed?," he said, nodding his head towards the prisoner. 

"Not really. He did resist though which is useless," Amber said, rolling her eyes. "But he did meet with Suzanne and we got proof of him not only plotting to kidnap Stevie but Richard too. Memories don't lie." 

"Ah! So we got her on clan betrayal then," Ken said happily. 

"Yup. The crazy bitch is going down once we get her," Amber said, laying her chin on Richard's right shoulder. "She'll be lucky to get away with banishment and flogging and nothing else. But speaking of going down, can I strap you unto the mind probe machine next, my Chumbawumba, and see all your smutty thoughts about me?," she purred in Richard's ear 

"Only if I can do the same to you, my Corncob," Richard said, wagging his eyebrows. 

Morgan giggled at that while Ken rolled his eyes. 

"Amber, this is my daughter, Morgan. Morgan, this is Amber." 

Amber said hello and shook hands with her. 

"Don't mind us," Amber said, gesturing to herself and Richard, "this is a long, running joke between us, this flirting." 

"Actually, it was worse than this before Richard cut his hair," Ken said to his daughter. "Then it was constant comments about running her fingers through his long, silky mane or something like that. And this is our friend, Karen." 

Karen stepped forward and shook her hand while Amber said hello. 

"So who else is on duty?," Richard said, nodding his head at the other Deathwalker. 

"That's Liu." 

"Oh okay," Richard said. "That explains the silent treatment." 

"What do you mean?," Karen said. 

"Liu has no tongue. He ran afoul of the authorities in Imperial China a long time ago after trying to steal some food for his family and the severed tongue was his punishment," Richard said. 

Karen grimaced at that. She watched while Richard got his attention and used sign language. Liu nodded, glanced at Nicodemus and walked over to him. Karen watched, fascinated, while the two conversed with sign language. 

"He didn't get his tongue back when he became a vampire, Dad?" 

"No. Unfortunately, being turned doesn't regrow lost body parts but after thirty years, we're fluent in sign language. He's a good friend too." 

"Are you guys going after Stevie?," Amber asked them. 

"Yeah. Ken and me are posing as captives after we brainwash one of the bozos," Richard said. "Either that bozo or the other one." 

"Need help? I could go with you. You could always use a Deathwalker's expertise." 

Richard and Ken glanced at each other. 

"Does Suzanne know that you're a Deathwalker?," Richard asked. 

"No, don't think so. I made it a point to stay away from her crazy butt. She doesn't know me that well. For all I know, she probably thinks I'm just some geeky little loser. I don't think she knows I'm a Deathwalker." 

"Well, it's not just Stevie," Richard said. "Ken's other daughter, Colbie, was taken too." 

"Shit. That bitch needs an ass whoopin', badly," Amber said while Richard signed to Liu the gist of what they were talking about. "She jealous of her too now?" 

"No, I think she took her to ensure Lindsey surrenders to her tomorrow night," Ken said. "Like taking Stevie isn't enough of an incentive for him." 

"Well, let me talk to Nicodemus because I want in on this for sure," Amber said. 

Richard and Ken thanked her as she walked over to speak to Nicodemus.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty Nine 

Stevie grunted when one of the Slavehunters shoved her back as she and Colbie were being taken from their cells to another part of the building. As they were being led down a dingy corridor, she could hear shouts and terrified screams in the distance and she could only imagine what was happening. She guessed it was another aspect of vampire life that she could do without. Suzanne wasn't with them but she guessed she was nearby. What frightened her most was she'd run into Lindsey, Richard or one of her other friends and watched while they were tortured and killed in front of their eyes. She was also scared that she and Colbie would end up dead. She remembered Richard telling her that if something happened to him and he ended up dead, she could inherit or plan for his funeral. He only mentioned himself in that scenario, not the possibility that she might be the one that ended up dying. And somehow she doubted an adoption certificate from the vampire world would have any legal standing in the mortal world. 

They left the corridor and entered into an enormous room. In the center of the room was a  large enclosed area made of plexiglas. Around it were hoards of vampires, men and women, some of them visibly drunk. Stevie's mind screamed a warning at her and she drew closer to Colbie, wanting to protect the younger woman from harm. At the back of the room was a large rectangular opening with a long wooden counter and several, wooden bar stools in front of it. Glancing through the opening, she could see a concession area with a soft drink machine, popcorn popper, a place for nachos and a grill. Several vampires were ordering food and paying a vampire woman who was middle aged and obese and had definitely seen better days. Stevie guessed the credit scanner was below the window since she would take the credit stick, put it down below somewhere and when her hand came back up, she would give it back while other workers would hand them their food. 

Off to the right was another window and counter but no bar stools. After observing the yelling vampires waving credit sticks in the staff's faces and shouting about placing bets. Stevie dreaded to think what they were betting on. She had a feeling that the answer was going on inside the large plexiglass area. 

She and Colbie were led to the left side to a doorway with a flight of stairs going up. Seeing it made her think of the flight of stairs in her adopted home that led up to the comfort and security of her bed and the bedrooms of her friends and new kid brother. She had to push that thought from her mind because her heart ached too much dwelling on it. At the top of the stairs was a short corridor with a couple of doors on the left side and one door at the end of it. They were led to the door at the end and one of the slavehunters opened it. Inside were a couple more slave hunters and Suzanne. She was sneering at them as she stood beside a long leather couch that was facing the right side of the wall. 

Behind that was an identical couch facing the same way and on the left side of the room was two leather chairs with a wooden table between them. A soft drink dispenser with plastic cups on a taller wooden table and beside that, a popcorn machine and folded popcorn bags beside it on a smaller table. It was all haphazard like someone had just come in and dropped furniture wherever they felt like it. 

"Know what happens here?," Suzanne sneered at Stevie as she walked over to her and Colbie. 

"Something to do with slaves, I'm guessing," Stevie said, staring unflinchingly at her face. 

"So you know about slavery here?" 

"Colbie and me know a lot of things about the vampire world. My friends told us." She paused a moment. "And my mate," she said pointedly. 

She smirked when she saw Susanne's smirk replaced with anger. She knew she was asking for a beating by doing this but she didn't care. She wasn't afraid of her captor. Vampire or not, the woman was a nutty little loser who was upset because the man she loved didn't love her back. 

"Did they tell you about Gladiator Clubs?," Suzanne said. 

Stevie and Colbie glanced at one another. 

"No," Stevie said while Colbie shook her head. 

"Oh? Your sweetie didn't tell you everything?" 

"Actually, they told me a lot but there's a lot to learn about vampires and I'm sure it's gonna take awhile to cover it all," Stevie said calmly. 

"True. So, this gladiator club is where mortals are forced to fight to the death like gladiators for the amusement of vampires." 

Stevie sighed. She figured this place had something to do with enslaved mortals being abused and humiliated. 

"Excuse me. But weren't you and your friends mortal once?," Stevie said. 

"Yeah, so?" 

"So...would you like it if someone kidnapped and enslaved you?," Stevie said, figuring reasoning with her was useless but she wanted to have her say if she was about to die. "Would you like it if you were forced to fight to the death? You were a mortal once upon a time. Show some compassion for them." 

"I'm better than they are now. I'm faster, stronger, I can shape shift and fly. I've evolved into a more superior being." 

"How?" 

"Excuse me?" 

"How did it happen? How were you turned? Because my friends and my mate were dragged into an alley and forced to turn or else. Doesn't sound like the behavior of a better, superior being to me. Sounds more like cruel, animalistic, sadistic thugs. My friends had their lives stolen from them because a bunch of bawlbaby jerks got pissed when they tried to hit on them and my friends told them to fuck off. My friends were forced to abandon their homes, lives and families because a bunch of vampires had boundary issues and couldn't stand the word, no. And you're the same way. You won't leave Lindsey alone after he told you no over and over each time you tried to hook up with him. No means no, lady. Doesn't mean I'll try again later. And this bullshit about having a grudge against Richard because he dared to be Lindsey's friend. Lindsey had a life long before he ever met you. You getting angry because he befriended a man about fifteen years before he even met you is stupid. So don't stand there and tell me how superior you are, dearie. You're just a kid. I've been through crap that would make your hair curl and I came out the other side of it alive. So whatever you're gonna do it, do it, and shut up about it. I'm not afraid of you or your thug friends." 

She braced herself for the beating she was sure was about to come. Wouldn't be the first time her flippant tongue got her in trouble but at the moment she didn't care. She cared more about Colbie's safety than her own anyway. She'd lived a full life, Colbie was still young and the last thing she wanted was to watch her be raped, abused or enslaved. So if she could draw all the heat her way and off Colbie, good. Even if she ended up dead, she wanted Colbie back home safe and sound with her friends and family. 

As she was staring down Suzanne, waiting for her captor to do something, the door opened and another man entered. This one was dressed in leather and Stevie guessed it was another slavehunter like the others. Suzanne glanced at him before he ordered him to stand guard over her captives. Stevie suppressed a smile when Suzanne turned and without doing anything to her or Colbie, left the room.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Forty

By the time they got back, Diane was awake and was looking for everyone. Ken, sensing her fear, telepathically calmed her down and let her know they were coming so by the time they got back, she was calm and glad to see everyone. But when she heard the plan, she went back to being worried. 

"Are you sure this will work?" Diane asked her husband. "You'll be okay?"

"Yes. We have a girl named Amber who is going with us. She's a deathwalker so she'll be able to help us out. Plus, we've had training before from deathwalkers in some of their techniques back when we made the decision to watch over all of you and Stevie. So even if we have suppressors on, we're not entirely helpless."

He looked over his shoulder when Chris put a hand on it.

"I want to go with you. I think I can help as well," she said. 

Ken smiled and nodded. 

"And she really knows how to kick ass," Ken said to Diane. "Chris is one of the fiercest fighters around, even against other deathwalkers. If anyone could kick Suzanne's ass, it'd be her."

When Richard came over, Ken told him about Chris accompanying him. Richard smiled and nodded. 

"Good. With Kickass Chris on board, we have more than a fighting chance," he said. "Speaking of fighting chances, Amber just called me. Not only is Nicodemus allowing her to go but there's a deathwalker on the inside at the Gladiator Club."

"What does that mean?," Diane asked. 

"Some deathwalkers infiltrate places where slavery is known to exist," Ken said. "They pose as slavehunters usually and try to rescue some of the mortals if they can. They have to do it while avoiding detection, of course, since they'd be put to death if their cover is blown. But someone from our clan is undercover at the Gladiator Club we're going to, which is good because we'll have an ally even if we are wearing suppressors."

"According to Amber, he also found Stevie and Colbie," Richard said. 

"Oh my God, are they okay?" Diane said. 

"So far, I think, but Amber was talking like they're eventually planning to put Stevie and Colbie in the games."

Ken swore softly. 

"So the bitch is lying to us," he said, trying to keep his rage under control. "Even if Lindsey does surrender, one or both of them will be dead by tomorrow night. Who is the deathwalker?"

"Jeremy."

"Oh okay, so he's going to try to shadow them and keep them safe," Ken said.

"Amber said she thought he was going to stall for time until we got there, if that's what she's planning to do. At the moment, Amber said Jeremy told her that she's making them watch the games. I suppose as a sneak preview of their fate."

"So, we do have a bit of time then?"

Richard turned and saw Chris. She'd been behind him, listening the whole time.

"We will if Jeremy can help it," Richard said. "But Amber said, so far they haven't been harmed."

"Thank God," Diane said. 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stevie and Colbie sat down on the sofa at the slavehunters urging. She glared up at him and he stared back calmly at her, which didn't surprise her. She figured he cared about them almost as much as he cared about a fly. The man was staring at her intently and Stevie shifted uneasily. He was young with an angular face and a faint dueling scar down his cheek. He had hazel eyes that were more brown than green and she noticed he was wearing a small silver stud in his left ear. He had dark hair that was closely cropped with a matching goatee. Other than that, he was dressed all in black like the other slavehunters had been. 

At the moment, he was the only one in the room with them and Stevie wondered if she and Colbie might be able to overpower him and get away. At least find a place to hide or slip out with the people going in and out. But then she realized that was stupid. She and Colbie didn't have cadaver skin and they would stick out with no problem. All someone would have to do was scream at someone to grab the fleeing mortals and it was game over. 

"Stevie Nicks?"

Stevie looked up at the man when he spoke to her. Despite his rough appearance, he had a very youthful and pleasant voice. 

"Yes, that's me," Stevie said, figuring the man was still young enough to know who she was. 

"And you are Colbie?"

Now Colbie was surprised and Stevie couldn't blame her. No one outside of their circle of family and friends had been able to identify her so far. Stevie remembered Richard telling her about Moonlight being a hit single down here and Stevie guessed that did bring her a bit of name recognition in the vampire community but apparently, Ken hadn't tried the same thing with Colbie. Not even Suzanne had recognized her as obsessive as she was about Lindsey and his life. 

The man smiled warmly and Stevie found herself smiling back in return. 

"Jeremy," he said, gesturing to himself. 

"Um...hi, Jeremy," Stevie said, surprised they'd finally found a compassionate slavehunter. 

Then Jeremy took off his leather jacket. He was wearing a black, short sleeved t shirt underneath and Stevie could see some sort of weird hieroglyph on his upper arm in the same spot that her friends had their Eye of Ra tattoos so she guessed this was the guy's clan tattoo. 

Jeremy glanced at the door before he brought his right arm close to Stevie and Colbie's faces. He reached down with his other arm and Stevie was shocked when he pulled at a bit of skin and suddenly, she could see a kind of square band-aide that was the exact color of his flesh. The clan tattoo was in the center of this band-aide so it came up too as he continued to pull.

Then Stevie's breath caught in her throat when she saw what was underneath. 

An Eye of Ra tattoo identical to the one her friends had. 

Stevie looked at Colbie as the tiny ember of hope in her heart began to grow back into a flame. Suddenly, she realized what was going on and why this guy was so friendly towards them. 

"Nicodemus, you're with him?" Stevie said softly.

"Yes, he's my real boss. I'm a deathwalker at the clan house. I'm undercover here, trying to rescue slaves when I got word from a colleague that you and Colbie were here."

"Can you get us out of here and back home?" Colbie said. 

"Working on that. My colleague did say that Richard, Ken, Christine and herself were coming here with two brainwashed slavehunters, posing as prisoners so they can get you outta here. At the moment though, I'm keeping my eye on you. But pretend I'm one of them, no one here knows I'm Osiris Clan," he added, smoothing the band-aide back down over his arm.

"Not even Suzanne? She's the same clan as you, right?" Stevie said.

Jeremy chuckled.

"Yeah but the dumb bitch didn't pay attention to everyone. Mainly, she had eyes for Lindsey and his friends. And the rest of us stayed away from her crazy ass. She has no idea who I really am. To her, she thinks I'm in the Jaffere Clan, which is where the rest of these slavehunter bozos come from. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that help is on the way and you're under guard now."

"Thank you," Stevie and Colbie said. 

Jeremy nodded. He stood near Stevie and Colbie, guarding them, while Stevie said a silent prayer that she, Colbie and everyone else would get out of this alive.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Forty One

For the next several moments, Jeremy was alone with Stevie and Colbie. He didn't say anything to them but Stevie was comforted, knowing that there was someone who was going to help them escape. She was glad Suzanne was so clueless; she had no idea that Jeremy was a member of her own clan. She had no idea what a deathwalker was. It sounded sinister to her but if it meant she and Colbie were going to get away from everyone and be reunited with the people they loved, she'd trust this deathwalker for the moment. 

She was also glad that Suzanne kept to herself and didn't care about anyone except Lindsey, since her inattention to the other members of her clan was going to be her undoing. 

Finally, after fifteen minutes, the door opened and Suzanne and the rest of the slavehunters came back inside. Stevie glanced at Jeremy and noticed he was watching them passively but she noticed he was still staying near him and Colbie. There were far more slavehunters in the room that were allied to Suzanne than there were allied to her and Stevie and even though Jeremy looked like he could handle himself in a fight, she figured he'd still be overpowered within minutes, if not a few seconds. And if her brother and friends were coming here as prisoners, she wondered if they would be wearing suppressors, which meant they'd be even more helpless than Jeremy was. But she thought about it and figured that maybe they'd have a plan at least since she was sure they would know they'd probably be wearing suppressors. The more she thought about all this, the more she realized there was so much room for error and she and Colbie weren't the only ones who were in danger of losing their lives when this was over. 

Suzanne walked over to them and there again was that arrogant little sneer that made Stevie want to rip her lips off and make her eat them. 

"So, I'm sure you're curious about this place," Suzanne said to Stevie.

Stevie had half an urge to make some flippant comment about how she could care less about what they did here, except that she did care about the slaves who she guessed were made to suffer. But she decided that perhaps it was better to play along and cater to the bitch's ego in the hopes she'd drop her guard a little. 

"I suppose I am a bit," Stevie said calmly. "I'm interested in most things about the vampire world," which was a true statement, except she didn't like how mortals were treated by some of the undead. 

Stevie noticed Suzanne relaxed a bit and she figured it was because Suzanne realized she wasn't going to be sarcastic towards her. 

"Do you know much about ancient Rome?," Suzanne asked her.

Stevie shrugged. 

"Some. It isn't my favorite period of history but I've seen my fair share of documentaries about it. How about you?," she said to Colbie, willing to include her in this conversation even if Suzanne kept on treating her like the Invisible Man.

"I learned about it in history class in high school," Colbie said, shrugging.

"Do you know about the games they held back then with gladiators fighting to the death," Suzanne said. 

"Yes. And Christians being fed to lions and things like that," Stevie said. 

Suzanne nodded. 

"This club is based a bit on that. Mortals are brought here and either made to fight to the death or are put in other situations for the amusement of the patrons here."

"Again, I say, you don't give a crap about these poor people that are being treated like objects and made to fight and die for the amusement of others, especially since you were a mortal too once," Stevie said. "Places like this don't sicken you?"

"No. Because I see it as payback."

"For what?" Colbie said.

"All the assholes who used to make fun of me growing up."

A light went off in Stevie's head. 

"You were teased unmercifully so having people enslaved and killed is your way to get payback for all that," Stevie said. 

"Yes. I enjoy watching people die, I enjoy watching them being bullied and seeing them in pain or in fear or hearing them scream because they're helpless."

"Which is how you viewed yourself," Stevie said. "Helpless and fearful and bullied."

"Yes and I'm sure you never had that problem growing up," Suzanne said. 

"On the contrary, people made fun of me all the time," Stevie said. 

Suzanne gave her a dubious look. 

"Believe it or not, I was picked on by people because I was the airy fairy weirdo who loved fairy tales and had her head in the clouds and wore weird clothes and I talked weird and thought weird and I had these grandiose dreams of being a rock star. Oh...and I carried my guitar around everywhere I went because of that. So yes, I was very much teased growing up. And so was Lindsey, come to think of it. He was teased too because he carried his guitar around everywhere he went and kept to himself and made up songs and talked about how he was going to be a rock star when a lot of people thought he was a nerdy little geek. So you're not the only one who's ever been bullied in school before and I'm willing to be that some of these people you watch got teased and picked on too. Like I said, I was teased too but I'm not wishing death on all of humanity for the actions of a handful of immature idiots. Besides, living well is the best revenge, as they say. I became exactly what I set out to be while I happen to know that a few of the people who thought I was a nobody are either working in fast food joints or making ends meet on minimum wage, so there's my revenge right there. I figure that's a more satisfying thing than killing them. But that's just me, understand. I wasn't so filled with rage and bitterness that I wanted the whole world dead. And I'm sure Colb here wasn't always popular either," she added, looking at her. 

"No, I was awkward and geeky growing up and plus, I had this jerk kid who read up on my dad and started telling me every chance he got that my dad was nothing but a junkie."

"Ugh, sorry to hear that," Stevie said, grimacing. 

"Eh, he was a loser," Colbie said, waving her hand dismissively. "I think he thought I was a spoiled rich kid who got everything when dad and mom never raised me or Morgan to be like that. So he checked into my dad's background because he thought calling dad a junkie to my face would hurt me. And it did, to be honest, since I'm very antidrug and it made me angry hearing him say that, but like Stevie, I don't wanna throw the kid in some arena or whatever and make him fight to the death or watch him die. Killing innocent people isn't going to change your past; it just makes you more inhuman than your bullies ever were. I don't find satisfaction in people's misery and fear and pain. And killing us isn't going to get you Lindsey. It'll probably get you dead since I'm sure Lindsey, my dad, mom, Morgan and everyone else will be gunning for you next. But I'm sure you don't care and nothing we're saying is making any difference. Lindsey spurned you so you're gonna make him suffer by doing this," she concluded, shrugging her shoulders. 

Stevie studied Suzanne. She looked annoyed but not repentant that she'd kidnapped them and Stevie knew Colbie was right. Suzanne didn't care about them and they were just wasting their breath trying to make her see reason. She glanced at Jeremy but he had a passive expression on his face and she had no idea what he thought about all this. 

"Anyway, if you two have gotten down off your soapboxes," Suzanne said. "This place is where vampires watch gladiatorial combat or stuff similar to that and be entertained. Some also bet on the outcome and make a little money on the side. Which I'm sure you disagree with too," Suzanne said pointedly to Stevie.

"Yes, but since it does no good to speak to you and try to sway your mind, that's all I have to say about that," Stevie said. 

"I'm planning to put you and her in the games eventually but first I figured you'd want to watch from here and see what they're like," Suzanne said.

"Why? So we can be filled with fear and spend every waking minute dreading the moment we're put in the games?" Stevie said. 

Suzanne shrugged. 

"I don't give a crap if you're scared or not, to be honest. I just want you to see what's in store for you," Suzanne said. 

"And the fact that our deaths would traumatize Lindsey and make him despise you forever means nothing either," Stevie said. "Or are you past the point of caring if you hook up with him or not?"

"No, that ship has sailed. I realize now he's never going to love me," Suzanne said with a shrug. 

"But you're still going to punish him by killing me...and Richard too since he's my....best friend," Stevie said, deciding not to mention the adoption in case Suzanne had no idea about it. "Why aren't you offing Richard, by the way? Colbie's never done anything to you and neither has Ken. Richard would be heartbroken if Colbie died, I give you that, but she's not his kid, she's Ken's daughter. But then again, everyone is a faceless bully to you and they all deserve to suffer for the actions of a few stupid teenaged morons," Stevie said, waving her hand dismissively. "Colbie and Ken are condemned under the whole guilt by association clause, not just because they know Lindsey and Richard but also because they're human beings."

Stevie saw the annoyance returning to Suzanne's face but she had no idea if she was annoyed because Stevie was being flippant or because she was making a good point. 

"By the way, why did you grab Colbie and not Richard? You hate him too, right? For being Lindsey's best friend?"

"Because I wasn't there and the men I sent to do it grabbed her instead," Suzanne said, pointing to Colbie. "I coulda had Richard here instead of her if the idiot had done his job correctly."

Stevie sighed inwardly. So Colbie was a prisoner only because a slavehunter made an error and grabbed the wrong person. She still hoped that even if she did die, Colbie would live and go free, not only because she was younger but now because she knew Colbie was never supposed to be here in the first place. And they were both here because an immature little brat didn't know how to let go of the past and forgive and forget. At least Jeremy was there and although he was outnumbered, it still felt good to have a vampire friend among a bunch of crazy people. 

Suzanne walked over to the wall in front of them and opened a small panel halfway up the wall. Stevie saw two black buttons behind it. Suzanne pushed the one on the left and suddenly the wall in front of them slid off to the left, revealing floor to ceiling plate glass window. She realized that sitting here, they had a bird's eye view of the Plexiglas arena below and that was why the sofas had been facing this wall. 

"I suppose we can offer you refreshments, Suzanne said to her captives as she walked in front of them. "But the point of all this is you're going to sit here and watch and see exactly what is going to be in store for you later on tonight."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter Forty Two

"Okay, you guys ready?" Amber said as she stood with her friends inside Nicodemus and Nefrure's private quarters.   
She had changed out of her deathwalker uniform into jeans, lavender t-shirt and black tennis shoes. She had her long brown hair pulled back away from her face in a ponytail and a couple of gold chain bracelets around her slender wrist. She looked like someone who had been picked up off the street instead of a deathwalker in disguise. 

Ken, Christine and Richard stood around her, also wearing casual clothes. Off to the side were the two slavehunters, standing quietly and observing the scene with no comment. They had been told that the two were now brainwashed and had been given instructions by Nicodemus. Until then, they were to stand by and await orders. 

Amber showed them all a hidden pouch which was the color of their skin. It was very thin and when it was adhered to their chests, it was undetectable. Inside the pouch were a very thin switchblade and several capsules in small plastic bags. One set of capsules was smoke bombs, the others were poison and in a third pouch were a handful of homing devices that were the size of beauty marks. It wasn't much but everyone figured they'd be searched and this way, they could at least have something to use as weapons. Lindsey walked up to his friends while they peeled a thin sheet of paper off the back of the pouch and pressed it against their chests in the case of the men and stomachs in the case of the women. The adhesive on the back made it stick tight against their bodies and it looked like a part of them once they were finished smoothing it down. 

Then Mick and John came forward with suppressors and Diane grimaced as she watched John slip one around her husband's neck. Karen and Morgan walked up beside Diane and all of them watched while Mick, John, Lindsey and Benjamin put the collars around Ken, Richard, Christine and Amber's necks. Diane waited till Mick was finished putting the suppressor around her husband's neck before she stepped forward to examine it. Ken was grimacing at the feel of it and inserting two fingers into the top of the collar, pulling it out as he tried to loosen it without success. The little black box on the front had a tiny green light on the front at the top and Diane guessed that meant the suppressor was working. 

"How do you feel?,' Diane asked her husband, taking his hand.

"Weak, like I'm back to being mortal. My senses are back to being crappy. I suppose Rich will really need his glasses now," he said, nodding to Richard across the way. "Feel like a car that's been drained of gas."

"And you really can't use any of your vampire...powers now?" Karen asked. 

"I can use my teeth, those still work but nothing else so even if I tried to bite someone, they could still overpower me," Ken said. 

"So no wolfing out, no flying, no super strength," Karen said. 

"Nope. Apart from the teeth still working, I'm pretty much back to being a mortal," Ken said with a shrug. 

"God, I hope this works then," Diane said, "Especially if you're going in a building filled with vampires."

"Well, we do have Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there," Ken said, gesturing to the docile prisoners.   
"I believe they now have orders to defend us but you're right. Apart from them and Jeremy, we're basically going to be fighting an entire building of vampires to get Stevie and Colbie out."

"Well, you'll have us too," Lindsey said, walking up to them. "We decided to wait and follow you perhaps an hour or so after you leave. From what I'm hearing, I have a feeling if I were to be a good little vampire and obey the deadline; I would get to see everyone's dead bodies being paraded in front of me. No fucking way I'm letting that happen. If it does happen, it happens tonight. Besides, Frank and Felice are upstairs talking to our friends and assembling a larger army. So even if you are outnumbered in that place and helpless, I have a feeling you won't be for long. And I'm assuming that you and Morgan will be a part of that army," he said to Diane.

"I'd like to be, I'm not sure about Morgan but I feel better and even if I could just hang back and assist and not actually fight, that at least would be something more than sitting here, twiddling my thumbs."

Lindsey nodded. 

"Trust me, she and Morgan will be looked after," he said to Ken.

"Good because I'll have your head on a pike if I lose my entire family tonight."

"Duly noted," Lindsey said, saluting.

"What about the Richster back here?"

Richard, who'd been speaking to John, looked over his shoulder at Lindsey.

"What about me?," he said warily. "Damn, I don't have my hearing anymore because of this fucking collar so what have you been saying about me?"

"Only that we'll have to babysit you every step of the way, lest your nearsighted ass trip on a crack and fall and wreck the whole plan," Lindsey said mildly with a shrug. 

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that," Richard said to John while Lindsey snickered. "You know, because I'm the clumsy nerd who'll ruin everything."

"Hey, I'm the quiet one who comes in, plays the bass and leaves so you're not the only one who's stereotyped around here, mate," John said. 

"That's not a stereotype, John. You are quiet, you do come in, play your bass and leave, that's a fact that can be backed up by nearly everyone here," Ken said while Lindsey chortled. 

"Which is why you are leader tonight in this rescue mission," Lindsey said to John.

"Me? Why am I the leader?"

"Because you're going to prove to everyone you are a dangerous force of nature and not the quiet person who plays the bass," Lindsey said. "You are John McVie, Super Destroyer Vampire, not John McVie, Plays His Bass And Has A Beer And Leaves For Tahiti. You're an animal, John, prove it!"

"But...bass, beer and Tahiti sounds better than blood, guts and glory," John said while Richard laughed. "Also sounds like a lot less work. Besides, you're the bloke who insists on doing everything, you do it."

"But I don't have something to prove," Lindsey said. 

"Neither do I which is why I don't feel the need to be Rambo on this rescue mission. I'll fight but I'm not purposely putting myself in the front because I'm perceived as being the quiet one."

"Come on, John, it'll freak out our enemies if they see you coming first," Mick said, walking up behind him. "It'll make them think they underestimated you all along."

"No, it'll make them think I'm easy pickings and they'll go after me first," John replied, looking over his shoulder at him.

"Well, if you like, you can wear this bloody collar and I'll take the front," Christine said, walking up to her mate. "I'm like Ken; I can't stand this thing, not after thirty years of being a vampire. I feel so weak now."

"Eh, you could still take an army wearing that thing, Chris," Mick said before kissing her cheek. "After you learned how, you started wiping the floor with some of the deathwalkers and you didn't even have half the training they had."

"And now you know why I was able to survive years of strife being in Fleetwood Mac," Christine said. "I'm a tough little git when I wanna be."

Mick looked at Richard who was now giggling softly while watching him. Mick pretended to be confused while he looked himself over. 

"Something wrong, mate?," Mick said to him. 

"Just a thought," Richard said. "Remember the Harmonica Killer movie we made. I figure something even scarier than Christine's berserker rage is your six foot five self going after the vampires while playing the harmonica."

Lindsey laughed and looked around at Mick.

"Yeah, nothing like clubbing someone to death while playing a jaunty tune on a harmonica," Lindsey said. "In fact, I dare you to do that to Suzanne and scare the little bitch senseless when you see her."

"Huh?" Morgan said. 

Ken chuckled. 

"When we were making Tusk, we were at the Village Recorder studio in LA and upstairs from us was an old church that had been converted into a transcendental meditation center for the followers of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Indian man the Beatles all admired. Anyway, one day it was empty and we were all bored to death downstairs, so Mick, Rich and Lindsey got the idea to go up there and make a horror movie they called the Harmonica Killer. Lindsey filmed it and Rich played some motivational speaker and Mick was the killer. Mick basically played a harmonica throughout the whole thing and pretended to club Richard to death while playing the harmonica. I can only imagine what the members of that center would have thought of the three of them using their meditation space for a horror movie. Incidentally, Richard, I remember watching the thing and thinking how you totally sucked as an actor so I hope to God your acting skills improved between then and now or you might get clubbed in the head for real this time. And I agree with Lindsey and Richard, scare the bejesus out of the vampires by going after them with a club and a harmonica."

"Hmm, you lot are sorely tempting me, you know," Mick said. "Although, I believe I would let Morgan or Diane play the harmonica while I did the clubbing so they would have something to do."

"Mom can do it, I'll be running around kicking everyone in the balls," Morgan said. 

Richard laughed hysterically when all the men in the room except for him backed up away from her.

"You do realize you have super strength now, love," John said. "And when you say kick someone in the balls; you may well kick the balls up through their body and out the top of their head."

"And don't get in such a frenzy, Morgan, that you start kicking our balls along with the bad guys," Ken said. "I'm not fertile anyone but I do still treasure my gonads and I really don't want your foot in there."

"Okay, Dad, I'll try really hard not to kick your balls."

"Why is that not reassuring me?" Ken said while Mick giggled. 

Richard smiled at that. He noticed Diane was coming towards him and his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Well, hello there," he said as Diane walked up to his side. "I shouldn't be flirting with you, seeing as how Amber is here. But I take my opportunities as I get them. So...goin my way, doll?"

"No, just wanting you to be safe when you're in there with everyone else. You're gonna be wearing this suppressor thing so...you know, you really could be hurt badly. And Suzanne seems to have it in for you and she might start torturing you or something."

Richard smiled and put his arm around her. 

"That's true but we have learned techniques from Amber and others to endure torture," he said to her. "I thank you for your concern though. I will try my very best not to get tortured at any point during this rescue attempt. Having said that, don't let your daughter kick my balls after I do make it through the night torture free."

He grinned when Morgan walked up behind him and hugged him from behind.

"I won't. You're the one that wears the glasses after all," Morgan said. 

"Um...so....what you're saying is...somewhere in the middle of your berserker rage when you're kicking nads left and right, you'll see my spectacles and say to yourself, that's Richard, and I'll be spared having my nads kicked up and out my body?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Hey, guys, better wear glasses tonight because that's how Morgan's gonna tell me apart from the enemy vamps," Richard yelled. "So, if you value your genitals and all..."

"Richard?'

"Hm?," Richard said when Diane spoke and touched his arm.

"You've been a great friend to my husband since you met him and I just wanted to say thanks for being his friend all these years and a friend to me and my family."

"Well, he's been a great friend too and I wouldn't have lasted through the horrible turmoil years with Fleetwood Mac if he hadn't been there. And I love your family. I love your daughters and I'm just as proud of them as Ken is."

"And I know that's why you'll keep Colbie safe along with Stevie once you're in there. Even if you are wearing a suppressor."

"Believe me, if they are being menaced in any way, a suppressor will not stop me from ripping Suzanne's guts out of her body."

Diane nodded and kissed his cheek. 

"I'm glad I made the decision to become a vampire," she said. "I thought I was nuts for wanting to be one but I'd rather be with you guys than anywhere else. And I know Morgan feels the same and Colbie too, once she becomes one."

"Well, I wasn't looking forward to your deaths. Dying Off Time is horrible. Just going through the period of losing everyone you love. I know Ben and Frank have told us about it before and in many ways, it still hurts them being without anyone they originally knew even though it's been centuries for them. Thirty years ago, I wouldn't have wanted you to turn but after living this life...it's not so bad. Coulda been worse and I really could have been a soulless, bloodsucking beast. Besides, Ken deserves to have his family by his side, especially after thirty years of denial. But we will bring Stevie and Colbie back home tonight, Diane, along with everyone else. After all, Karen can't stay and feed the dogs forever more."

"No, nor do I want to," Karen said. "Although I am glad you guys accepted me as one of your own. I'm sorry I have no interest in becoming a vampire but at least I get treated like I am one."

"Well, you're a good person, Karen," Lindsey said, putting his arm around her. "And you've watched over Steves for years and years and years, which is a job and a half. So I know I'd admire you for that. You kept her from jumping off a bridge."

"Yeah and believe me, there were times when I thought she would do something like that, especially after losing all of you. Just don't lose her tonight or you'll be the one going off a bridge."

"Karen, if I lose her, I'll throw myself off the bridge, you won't need to do it," Lindsey said. 

He gave her a sideways hug and looked around at his friends.

"So guys, ready to rock and roll and get this show on the road then?," he said.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty Three

Stevie felt like she was going to throw up. 

She and Colbie were sitting together on the sofa, watching while two terrified, teenaged girls inside the Plexiglas arena tried to escape their fate without killing one another. Surrounding their prison was a sea of frenzied undead faces, yelling and screaming at them to kill each other because they had credits riding on the outcome. Remembering Richard’s words about how no vampires are born, all are created, the fact that once again all these former mortals were screaming at two terrified girls to stab one another with the spears they were holding sickened her to the very core of her being.

The other thing that sickened her was the girls were basically just wearing black bikinis. No footwear, no armor, no helmet, only bikinis and spears accompanied them into the arena. And the fact that they were in bikinis was not lost on the spectators since Stevie could hear comments about how the girls needed to tear the bikinis off each other’s bodies too. The sheer depravity of the whole thing was mind-blowing to her and she’d seen some depravity in her time. 

“This is disgusting,” Colbie said quietly to Stevie. “I can’t watch this.”

“I know but I have a feeling if we look away, our buddies back there will grab our heads and hold open our eyelids and make us watch it,” Stevie said just as quietly, even though she knew they were in a room full of vampires with enhanced hearing who were probably hanging on their every word.

She glanced at Jeremy. He was sitting beside her but his face was still passive. She figured he’d have to keep it that way pretty much all the time to keep from being found out. She wished there was a way to link minds with him that was quick and discrete so she could communicate with him. 

“Come on, you stupid bitches, do something,” one of the slave hunters said behind her. 

Stevie resisted the urge to jump up and deck the loser in the face. Knowing him, he’d probably said it to see if he’d get a reaction from her anyway since the slavehunters were all in the room when she and Colbie were on their so-called soapboxes. By now, the girls were getting booed at since they really weren’t doing anything apart from trembling and weeping. Stevie silently resolved that after she became a vampire, she would definitely join the vampires wanting to get these barbaric practices outlawed. 

Then the trapdoor that the girls had used to come up into the arena opened. The girls sprinted towards it, thinking their ordeal was over but a musclebound Arnold Schwarzenegger type vampire walked up, carrying a large whip in his hand. The girls screamed when the vampire cracked the whip in the air and bellowed at them to fight or else. Stevie wished she could do something to help them but being in a room surrounded by sadistic vampires; there was nothing to do but sit and watch the horror play out in front of her. If, God forbid, this was her and Colbie’s fate, she would stab herself with her spear rather than kill the younger woman. 

The women were now cowering together, up against the far side of the wall away from the whip wielding vampire. The crowd was now beating on the walls and yelling at the women to do something which was causing them to become even more terrified. 

“Stop this!” Colbie finally said, turning in her seat to look at Suzanne behind her. “Leave them alone!”

“This isn’t my club and I have no control over the games here,” Suzanne said calmly.

“Bullshit, if this isn’t your club, why do you have the little penthouse suite up here?” Stevie said, turning to look at her. 

“The owner is a friend of mine. But that still doesn’t mean I can tell him what to do in his own club. You want to know about our world, watch. The immortal world isn’t all Twilight and happiness, dearie.”

Stevie wondered if the Twilight reference was aimed specifically at her for being a Twilight fan or just a general reference to the romance in the books and movies. Richard had said she hadn’t been a vampire for long so maybe she had read something about her liking the movie and was now mocking her for it. 

She heard a scream and her and Colbie jerked her heads back around. The vampire had now shapeshifted into a huge black wolf and had leapt up onto one of the teens, biting at her throat. Stevie let out a strangled cry when the wolf tore her throat out and the woman fell to the floor dead. Then the other girl tried to go towards the open trapdoor and the ramp that led down into whatever was below them but the wolf jumped up on her back, knocking her to the ground. He then began to scratch and claw and bite at her while the woman screamed in agony.

“Stop it! Make it stop!” Stevie screamed desperately at Suzanne.

“I can’t control it!” Suzanne said, shrugging.

Stevie was enraged and she wished it was Suzanne being mauled and not the innocent young women down below. Suzanne smirked at her, daring her silently to do something, and Stevie had to physically keep herself in her seat to keep herself from doing something that would get herself killed. If her friends were coming, she and Colbie needed to concentrate on staying alive but she hoped the smug little bitch was going to get her comeuppance in a brutal way.

Colbie cried out and Stevie turned her head to see the wolf’s jaws around the woman’s neck. He jerked on her neck savagely and the woman convulsed for a moment and lay still. Stevie guessed her neck had been broken. Her heart sank, knowing these two were only teenagers. How many other teenagers had met similar fates in this hellhole, surrounded by unfeeling, uncaring vampires who only wanted them to die so they could get paid?

Suzanne let out a contented sigh and she stood up. 

“Jeremy, keep an eye on them for a moment,” Suzanne said before she and the rest of the slavehunters left the room. 

Stevie was numb as she watched the wolf change back into the vampire. The vampire then took the women’s bodies, tossed them over the Plexiglas barrier and then picked up his whip and nonchalantly went back down under the arena while the vampires had a feeding frenzy with the girl’s dead bodies.

“I’m sorry, Stevie,” Jeremy said quietly to her. “I’m sorry you both had to witness that. That’s why we try to rescue as many as we can and we’re trying to get it banned.”

“I hope you do. Colbie and me want to be turned after all this is over and I’m going to join the fight to stop this.”

“Me too,” Colbie said.

“Oh, you want to be turned? I’m glad. You guys seem like nice people and I know Lindsey has spoken a lot about you and Ken’s told us a lot about you too,” he said, nodding at Colbie. “Despite this…”he added, gesturing to the scene below them. “There are a lot of good things about the vampire world.”

“I’ve seen them. Lindsey and the others have been showing me. That’s why I’d like to turn because I have seen the beauty of this world also.”

Jeremy nodded. 

“Well, despite all that, I will do my best to keep you guys outta there,” he said, gesturing to the arena. 

Stevie looked down. A man with a mop was now coming up to clean up the mess. Stevie let out a shuddering sigh, hoping the young women’s fate wouldn’t be the fate of her or her friends.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stevie sat with Colbie and Jeremy on the sofa. It had been awhile and there’d been no sign of Suzanne or the others. The man with the mop had long since cleaned up the mess inside the arena. He’d gone back under while two other men collected what was left of the womens’ bodies and cleaned up that mess also. Without a game going on, most of the spectators went to get food, use the restroom or left the building entirely. Where there’d been frenzied screaming and yelling, now there was relative quiet except for some shouted orders for food coming from the concession area. Stevie stared at the empty arena and prayed that she and Colbie wouldn’t be the next show.  
Stevie gasped when the door suddenly banged open and Suzanne entered in a rage. Jeremy hopped up while she and Colbie watched the slavehunters follow their employer into the room. Then Stevie’s breath caught in her throat as she saw Richard, Ken, Christine and an unfamiliar woman being led forcefully into the room. All of them looked like they had been beaten up and they all were wearing suppressors. Ken saw his daughter and an overjoyed look lit up his face while everyone looked them over to make sure Stevie and Colbie were alright. 

Then the men holding them forced them down onto their knees and Stevie saw the two men who had taken her and Colbie from the subway train enter the room at the back. Suzanne walked over to the men and glowered at them while their friends guarded the captives. 

“What the hell is this?” Suzanne said, pointing to the four captives.

“We found the man you wanted us to take in the first place,” one of the men said.

“So what the hell are the others for? I didn’t need all of them, just Richard, you imbeciles!” Suzanne bellowed at the men.

Stevie watched as Richard caught Ken’s eye and rolled his own while Ken nodded imperceptibly. 

“You keep bringing me extra captives. I needed two to begin with, Stevie and Richard, I don’t need six!”

“We’re sorry but they put up a fight,” the other man said, pointing to the kneeling captives.

“So…kill them! Rip their heads off. In fact, you shoulda ripped Richard’s head off too because I don’t really need him now. Damn, I’m surrounded by incompetence,” Suzanne said. “Where are we gonna put them all?”

“Why not lock them in here?”

Suzanne looked at Jeremy when he spoke.

“And what? Have them trash the room and break the glass?,” Suzanne said to him.

“Tie them up and leave them here. They’re wearing suppressors and these two are mortal. Tying them up good will stop them,” Jeremy said. 

Suzanne looked over her captives before sighing and throwing up her hands.

“Fine, just…keep your eyes on them for a moment, alright? Come on, guys, we need to go find some rope now,” Suzanne said to the other slavehunters. “Wait, you morons watch them too,” she said to the brainwashed slavehunters. “Since you felt the need to bring them all in, you can help watch them. Come on, guys.”

Jeremy kept the smirk off his face as Suzanne led everyone out except for him and the two slavehunters who weren’t even under her control anymore. When the door closed, everyone hesitated before Colbie ran to her father, knelt and put her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Colbie, thank God you’re safe,” Ken said, hugging her back and holding her tightly. 

Stevie hurried over and hugged Richard.

“Hey, Sis, they didn’t steal your bling, did they?” he asked Stevie. 

“Oh no, she didn’t even seem to notice me and Colbie were wearing jewelry,” Stevie said to him.

“Jewelry, what jewelry?” Ken said, looking at Stevie.

“Um…Richard got me a ring,” Colbie said, showing it to him.

“Really? Why?” Ken said to Richard.

“Um…it’s an I’m glad you’re my new girlfriend ring?”

“Uh huh and what about Stevie? You got her an I’m glad you’re my second new girlfriend ring?”

Stevie chuckled. She reached down into her shirt, pulled out the necklace and showed him the pendant.

“Oh okay, that is nice but my daughter? Jesus, Richard is dating my daughter,” Ken said, rolling his eyes. 

Colbie smiled, kissed her dad’s cheek before she walked over to Richard. Stevie hugged Ken and Christine and Christine introduced them both to Amber. Richard looked at Jeremy.

“Anything been going on before we got here?,” Richard asked him.

Jeremy briefly explained about being forced to watch the game and Richard sighed and apologized to Stevie and Colbie for having to witness that.

“Are you guys okay?” Colbie asked Ken. “You were beaten up?”

“Actually, we had our friends do that,” Ken said. “We thought it’d look more convincing if we were roughed up a bit So no, we didn’t get in a knock down, drag out fight before we were led up here.”

“Having said that, all of you guys better break apart and look like captives before Suzanne gets back or you’ll roughed up for real.”

Everyone nodded. Ken hugged Colbie tightly and kissed a tear from her cheek before gently urging her to go sit back down. Stevie shook Amber’s hand, hugged Christine and her brother and joined them back on the sofa before everyone else joined them in the room.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter Forty Four

Lindsey settled down into the boughs of a tree directly across from the gladiator club and studied the front door. While he was doing that, Mick, John, Benjamin, Frank and Felicia came down around him and found spots in the tree from which to observe. Before they left, they were not only able to link minds with one another, including the pretend prisoners, but they managed to recruit Balthazar along with thirty four other members of their clan. Balthazar was nearby, sitting on a bench by the roadway while the others mingled around and pretended to look like ordinary people out for a night on the city. Mick checked a little, black handheld device that was designed to pick up the blips from homing signals. He nodded. 

"They're all inside," Mick said quietly to Lindsey. 

"Can you tell where inside?"

"Near the back at least, I'll run a more detailed scan but they're nowhere near the front entrance, I can tell that much," Mick said. 

Richard, are you there, Lindsey thought to him. 

Yeah, we're here and so are they. I'm looking at them right now.

Where are you at?

Second floor. Some kind of suite that overlooks the arena like the kind you have at baseball games. 

"Got that?" Lindsey said to Mick.

"Yeah, shouldn't be hard to secure that, not with the amount of people we have now," Mick replied.

Lindsey nodded. 

Stevie and Colbie okay?, he thought to Richard.

Yeah, far as I can tell. The bitch made them watch one of the games though just before we got here and they're shaken up by that, but no harm to them physically. 

"Got it, they are on the second floor. Up a flight of stairs, there's a room off to the side. They're all in there," Mick said, glancing at Lindsey.

Lindsey signaled to Balthazar to come over. When he was with his friends in the tree, Lindsey and Mick showed them the scanner and whispered to him what they wanted him and everyone else to do. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Richard and his fellow captives sat by the door, guarded by the two brainwashed slavehunters while Jeremy stood by Stevie and Colbie while they sat on the sofa. He'd been communicating telepathically with Lindsey and knew his four friends were listening in via the shared mind link. It was strange to him having all these minds in his own after going thirty years without linking to anyone. 

He had considered quickly linking with Stevie but wasn't sure how much time they had till Suzanne returned. He had discussed the possibility of linking with Ken since Ken had thought of doing the same thing with Colbie. He knew he could do a very rudimentary link to Stevie and Colbie's minds. It wouldn't be as deep or as lasting as a regular mind link but it was the kind that was good for emergencies such as this one. Again, the only thing working against him was not knowing how much time he had to complete his task. The last thing he wanted was to get Stevie and Colbie in trouble that could possibly lead to a beating or worse. But with his hands untied for the moment, he knew both he and Ken wouldn't have a better time than this. 

Guys, go to it, Christine finally thought to them after listening in on their debate. If the bitch comes back, we'll just go ahead with the rescue a bit early. You need to link with them in case something happens and we end up separated. 

Richard and Ken looked at her before looking at each other and nodding. They both leapt up and ran over to the sofa. 

"Mind link," Richard said to Jeremy as he sat down beside Stevie and Ken sat down beside Colbie.

"Go for it, I'll guard you," Jeremy said softy before he turned his attention to the door.

Stevie was surprised when Richard and Ken both pulled their suppressors off easily and set them down on the sofa beside them. Without preamble, Richard and Ken put their fingers against Stevie and Colbie's temples and quickly entered their minds.

"Hold still, I'm going to do this quickly and do a more permanent one later," Richard muttered to Stevie as he closed his eyes. 

Stevie felt Richard rooting around in her mind before he apparently found what he was looking for and stopped. She gazed at his face, his eyes shut and his face tightened in concentration. She held still for him as her eyes kept glancing towards the door, expecting Suzanne and her goons to walk through it at any second. But she reasoned that if Richard and Ken could pull off their suppressors whenever they wanted, the women must be able to do that too and at least then they'd be able to fight like vampires. 

Stevie felt Richard working with something in her mind and suddenly, there was a flood of unfamiliar thoughts and memories mingling with her own. She heard Colbie gasp at around the same time so she assumed Ken had done the same thing to her. 

"Finished," Ken said to Richard.

"Me too. Time to put the fucking suppressors back on," he said.

Stevie watched while the two men put one another's suppressors back on and locked them in place before the two of them hurried back to their places by the door. 

Stevie, this is Richard, can you hear me? Nod if you can.

Stevie's eyes bulged when she heard Richard speaking inside her mind but she kept silent and nodded. She glanced at Colbie when she saw Colbie nod and glance over at her father. 

Okay, this is not a full-fledged mind link, I didn't have time for that but it allows communication between us and anyone linked with me can sorta piggyback in and speak to you. I can strengthen it later but for the moment, to communicate with me, picture me in your mind and concentrate your thoughts on that mental picture. Think something odd to me and I'll think back what I think you said, okay?

Stevie nodded. She got an image of Richard in her mind and focused on that, thinking "Ken is a studmuffin" to him. She smirked when she saw Richard's eyes widen in surprise before narrowing.

Ahem, he thought to her. I believe you said Ken was a studmuffin which I disagree with completely. I'm the only studmuffin around here, dammit! 

Sorry, bro, Ken has a nice body. Gotta acknowledge his sexy self, you know.

Stevie giggled when Richard raised his eyebrow at that before he smiled warmly and winked.

Hang on, Sis, gonna do a piggyback here and let someone else speak to you, Richard thought to her. 

Stevie frowned, wondering about that. She searched her mind and could feel faint traces of Richard's consciousness but couldn't hear him. She could see he had his eyes closed and he was apparently communicating with someone but she figured without a direct link to the other person, she couldn't hear them, which she guessed was the reason Richard had to piggyback this person into her mind.

Stevie? 

Stevie's eyes bulged when she suddenly heard Lindsey's voice in her mind. 

Lindsey?, she thought back, her heart beating rapidly with joy.

Yeah, it's me. Richard's patching me into your mind. I don't have a direct mind link with you so I have to go through him since he's connected to both of us. Are you okay? 

Yeah, Colbie and me are okay, they haven't really done anything yet except showed us two teenaged girls getting killed in this gladiator game thing they have here. 

Shit. Yeah, I'm sorry, Steves, another detestable thing connected with the slave trade down here. 

Suzanne was talking like me and Colbie were gonna end up doing the same thing.

P'eh, over my dead undead body you will. If anyone's gonna end up in those fucking games, it'll be her and her friends. 

Where are you?

Outside, across from the entrance in a tree with Mick, John, Ben, Frank, Felice, Balth and we have thirty four other clan members around the building. 

Stevie's eyes bulged at that. 

As you can see, we have our own little army, ready to storm the castle. We're just waiting for an opportune time. So, don't worry, everyone has you and Colbie's backs. Just pretend like you're afraid. Don't get cocky and end up in the middle of that arena. We're gonna send a few people inside that Suzanne wouldn't recognize to pose as customers and we'll keep on doing that until most of our friends are inside. That way most of the people will already be inside when we decide to strike. 

Stevie looked over when the door opened and Suzanne and the slavehunters entered carrying rope. She mentally relayed that to Lindsey as one of the slavehunters closed the door.

Okay, just don't resist babe. Go along with it, at least for the moment. We're getting ourselves into position now.

Good luck, Lindsey, be careful.

I will. See you soon, Angel. Very soon. Over and out.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty Five  
Boy, this sucks, Richard thought to his friends as they were tied up tightly with rope.   
He was glad they made the suppressors so they could get them off easily. With the suppressors off, they would have no trouble breaking through the ropes. But he decided to get a bit dramatic for the bitch’s benefit since she was watching him at the moment so he grunted as he pretended to fight against the ropes being bound around his body.  
As expected, Suzanne loved his futile attempt to break free. Richard couldn’t believe the dumb bitch was causing all of them so much trouble. But as the ropes were tied tighter around his body, he couldn’t help but love the fact that by taking her fellow clan members hostage, she was adding to her list of crimes and digging a deeper hole for herself now. And she was so stupid; she wasn’t even stopping to think that she was doing something she’d regret later. But then he figured she was so stupid that she was confident she’d won.   
If only she knew what was awaiting her outside.   
They finished tying him up and Richard did another half hearted escape from the ropes.   
“You’ll never get away with this.”  
Richard looked over when he heard Ken speak. They were finished with his ropes too and he was glaring at Suzanne.   
“Oh shut up, idiot,” Suzanne said.   
“You’re the idiot. You really think you’re gonna succeed?”  
“I am succeeding, Corlay!”  
“It’s pronounced Caillat, idiot.”  
“Whatever. You mean nothing to me. You and your little bitch daughter over there.”  
“Ooo,” Richard said under his breath when he felt Ken’s rage flare up in his mind.   
Suzanne thought for a moment and then smirked.  
“I have a good idea. I’ll make you and your daughter fight to the death in the arena next,” Suzanne said, getting down into Ken’s face.   
Richard couldn’t believe she’d said that. He felt Ken’s rage ratchet up another notch and he could see from Ken’s face that he was going to break through the ropes on the power of rage alone, suppressor or no suppressor. He looked at Christine and Amber and he could tell they could feel the rage too because he saw the same shock on their faces that he knew was on his own.   
“Lady, you just astound me with the level of your stupidity,” Richard said to Suzanne.  
Suzanne sighed and turned towards him.   
“And you’re not stupid, Da-SHIT?,” she said.  
“Oh yes, that’s very witty,” Richard said dryly. “Da-shit, wow, how long did it take you to think that one up? And before you turn me off and go back to doing what you’re doing with Ken, I’d advise against it. Ken is veeeeery protective of his family and you standing there suggesting he fight to the death with her is royally pissing him off, which is bad for you, dearie, trust me.”   
“I’m not scared of any of you.”  
Before anyone could say anything, Suzanne decked Ken in the face as hard as she could, which was pretty hard considering she had vampire strength on her side and Ken was wearing the suppressor. Ken’s head snapped back and he gritted his teeth as pain flooded through Richard’s mind.   
“Leave him alone!” Colbie yelled as she and Stevie sat tied up on the sofa.  
“Colbie, no, stay out of this!” Ken yelled at her as Suzanne spun around and fixed a look of death on her face.   
Shit, Lindsey, it’s escalating in here, Richard thought to his friend as Suzanne balled up her fists and moved towards Colbie. Get your ass in here now before people wind up dead!  
Coming. We’re coming, Lindsey thought back.  
Stevie got up from the sofa and stood between Colbie and Suzanne. Suzanne snorted.   
“Sit down, bitch, before I break your legs off,” Suzanne sneered at her.   
“You know what, I’m really tired of you calling me a bitch,” Stevie snarled at her. “The only bitch around here is you!”  
Suzanne sighed.   
“That’s it, fuck the deadline. You’re all dying right now. I’ve had my fill of…”  
She trailed off when she heard angry yells. Stevie looked out the huge plate glass window the same time Suzanne did and Suzanne’s mouth dropped open when tons of people flooded into the club at the same time. Stevie smiled when she saw Lindsey leading the way with Mick, John, Benjamin, Frank, Felice and Balthazar following him. Everyone else rushed in behind him. Vampires scattered in all directions while some of the clan members chased them out while Lindsey and his friends made for the stairs leading up to the viewing room. Suzanne let out an angry growl and turned to snap Stevie’s neck before he could get to her. She froze when she saw Jeremy beside Stevie smirking at Suzanne.   
“Kill her, now! Kill them both!” Suzanne said, pointing at Stevie and Colbie.   
“Actually, I have a better idea,” Jeremy said.  
Using his super speed, he rushed over to Richard, Ken, Christine and Amber, ripping off their suppressors before he started attacking the slavehunters. Richard ordered the brainwashed slavehunters to help Jeremy and Suzanne’s mouth dropped open when they obeyed and jumped into the fray. Suzanne screamed at one of the slavehunters to kill her enemies but the slavehunters were busy battling Jeremy and their two brainwashed friends. Suzanne snarled and spun around, intending to snap Stevie’s neck but she gasped when she suddenly felt someone seize the back of her neck. She jerked her head around and saw Richard holding onto her, fire in his eyes.   
“Ropes can’t hold us if we’re at full strength,” he said to her. “Oh, Ken, dear. Is this the bitch who threatened your daughter with death?,” he said over his shoulder.   
Suzanne’s eyes bulged when Ken walked up beside his friend, absolute rage on his face. Meanwhile, Christine had unlocked the door and now Lindsey and the others were pouring into the room before Christine joined Amber in subduing the remaining slavehunters. Suzanne had just enough time to register that she was losing before Richard let go of her neck and Ken’s fist slammed into the back of her head with such force that Amber flew across the room and slammed face first into the wall. Richard and Ken shared a look before both of them sped to her and began to pummel her entire body with their fists.   
“Hey, whoa, save some for me!” Lindsey yelled to them before he ran over and joined in the ass whooping.   
Stevie and Colbie were still tied up so they couldn’t do anything except draw near to each other and watch the battle rage over the entire room. Stevie looked out the plate glass window and noticed that most of the patrons had been chased off and the remaining clan members were heading upstairs once one of the clan members alerted them that Suzanne was there. Then Colbie gasped when she saw her mother and sister come inside.   
“Oh my God, they’re vampires now,” Colbie said to Stevie.   
They walked over to the window so they could see them. Morgan saw them first and pointed them out to Diane. Diane yelled with delight and she looked at her daughter before both of them hurried to the stairs. Stevie looked over at Suzanne. By now several clan members had joined Richard, Ken and Lindsey in the ass kicking and she couldn’t even see Suzanne any more.   
“Ken! Diane and Morgan are coming up!” Stevie said.  
Ken stopped with his fist in the air and looked back at them.   
“Oh shit, Rich, we forgot to untie them,” Ken said to Richard who was beside him, landing a punch directly to Suzanne’s nose.   
Richard looked over his shoulder and looked at Ken before they hurried over to Stevie and Colbie.   
“Sorry, heat of the moment,” Richard said as he walked behind Stevie. “We were so focused on beating the bitch up, we forgot to free you. My apologies.”  
Ken was about to break the ropes around his daughter’s body when he heard Diane calling his name. He beckoned for her and Morgan to come over and he grabbed a bit of rope and pulled, breaking it apart with his super strength. Richard did the same and both women wriggled around as the ropes loosened. Once Colbie was free, she hugged her mother and daughter and when she was done, Stevie did the same. By now, the room was filled and they couldn’t tell who was who anymore. They backed up near the wall, protecting their backs while they watched the melee. While Stevie stood beside Richard, she felt a tap on her shoulder and yelled with delight when she saw Lindsey standing there. He opened his arms wide and held her tightly while Stevie kissed his face repeatedly. Then he smiled at Colbie and beckoned to her, opening one arm and letting her in, hugging her with one arm around her and one arm around Stevie. He looked back at the dogpile on top of Suzanne.  
“Okay, I think she’s subdued now, guys. Don’t kill her. We need to take her to Nicodemus,” he yelled to them.   
The mob got up off of Suzanne, slowly untangling their bodies from each other. To Stevie’s surprise, Suzanne was still conscious, although most definitely dazed as she lay on the floor on her stomach, moaning and groaning.   
“Wow, vampires can take a lot of punishment,” Stevie said softly.  
Lindsey chuckled.  
“Yeah, it helps having these enhanced bodies. However, once we get suppressors around her and her friends, they won’t be a threat anymore. But for now, we need to get you guys back to Nicodemus and search the premises for any more slaves we can free. We can’t shut this place down but we can always say the slaves escaped in the confusion,” Lindsey said with a wink, “but as for the two of you, it’s time to get you out of here so you can rest and get a nice shower and some food in your belly.”


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter Forty Six

Stevie rested in Lindsey’s arms as he carried her out of the building. She was exhausted and she knew Colbie was too. She was in her father’s arms and Stevie smiled, thinking she looked like a little girl again instead of thirty one years old. Her father held her protectively while he spoke to Jeremy. Diane and Morgan stood beside Ken, looking around. Slowly, clan members were walking out of the club and Stevie noticed that they had found a few captives somewhere. Most of them were little girls and young women, all of them malnourished, dirty and dressed in torn and soiled clothes. Stevie did notice one captive was a little boy who looked about five or six; he slept in the arms of a female clan member as she quietly took him away from the building. 

When they were finished chatting with the clan members, Lindsey walked with his friends while they headed back to the clan house. While they walked, Stevie noticed that Lindsey and everyone else was following Richard and Ken. About a block down from the gladiator club, they stopped and pointed to a depressing concrete building with steel doors. 

“This is the auction house,” Ken said as Richard pointed to it. “One of them anyway. This is the one that’s closest to our studio and we’ll show you guys where that is next.”

They went up another block to a brick building that had a colorful mural painted on the side of it. The mural was musical instruments and music notes and Stevie thought it looked far more cheerful than the auction house. Stevie remembered what Richard said about how close the auction house was to their studio and looking back, she could see it down the street, sticking out from the other buildings like a blight on the city.   
Ken reached into his pocket, unlocked the front door of the studio and everyone went inside. The studio was closed and there was no one working the receptionist desk. There was another mural on the wall behind the desk that Stevie thought looked familiar and then she realized it looked exactly like the animals that were painted on the front doors of the Record Plant in Sausalito. She mentioned this to Ken and Richard and Ken nodded. 

“Yeah, we actually suggested that and brought them photos,” Ken said. “When we first started working here, there was nothing but a white wall there and it looked boring. We always liked the Record Plant doors so we had them paint that here. Kinda a link with our past, I suppose.”

“And before you say something, this place doesn’t have windows either but that’s because it’s underground,” Richard said.

They led them back to Studio B and Ken told them this was their studio while Richard unlocked the doors. They went inside and Stevie noticed it was very spacious inside. The iso booth and console were to the right along with the recording equipment and to the left was a black leather couch with a stainless steel frame with matching chairs and a glass coffee table. To the right of that was a closed door that Richard explained led into a lounge. He went into the lounge while Lindsey and Ken put Stevie and Colbie down on the sofa. The women looked around the room while Ken and Lindsey stretched their bodies. Diane and Morgan wandered around the studio, looking it over while Christine and Amber sat in the chairs beside the sofa. Mick and John stood nearby chatting quietly as Richard came back into the room with an armful of bottles of Coke. He gave a bottle of Coke to Stevie, Colbie, Christine and Amber before going back into the room for some more. Stevie drank the Coke, loving the taste of it after being in captivity. She watched while Ken walked over to a wooden cabinet to the left of the console. He opened it and took out a couple of CDs before closing the door. He walked over to them while Richard came into the room with more Cokes. Ken grinned as he handed the CDs to Stevie. Stevie frowned for a moment till she got a good look at them and her eyes bulged when she realized these were Fleetwood Mac CDs that had been made after her lover and friends were turned. She showed them to Colbie and the two women sat closer together after Stevie told her what they were. Colbie called over her mother and sister and the four women examined the CDs together. 

“I figured since we told you guys that Fleetwood Mac was still recording albums together that you might need proof of that,” Ken said. “And the last CD should be Lindsey’s solo one. And at the moment, he and Chris are working on one too.”

Stevie looked at the last CD. It was Lindsey’s and Stevie stared at it quietly. On the cover, Lindsey was dressed completely in black and was lounging on a low stone wall. Behind him was shrubbery and there was a winged gargoyle in the foreground. The title of the CD was called GARGOYLES and when Stevie asked Ken why it was called that, Ken shrugged. 

“Hey, Buttmunch, why’d ya name your album Gargoyles?” Ken said, turning and yelling to him. “Your woman wants to know why?”

Lindsey grinned and took a sip of Coke. 

“I named it after you, Caillat. You and your ugly gargoyle face. That statue is supposed to be you, you know.”

“Uh huh. Well, you just remember what you said just now when you want me to produce your next solo album,” he said while Colbie and Morgan giggled. 

“Hey, man, you got it wrong,” Richard said as he brought out the last of the Cokes and a big bag of potato chips. “It’s pronounced Corlay, you know. Just like I’m Ri-shard Da-shit!”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m Ken Corlay, according to the waste of space,” Ken said, rolling his eyes. 

Richard finished passing out the last of the sodas and walked over to the coffee table. He told everyone to help themselves while he opened the bag of chips. Stevie and Colbie hungrily ate some, famished since Suzanne never gave them any food. While they ate, Stevie listened to the men discussing Suzanne’s fate while they nibbled on the chips and drank their sodas. Mick was telling them that they could now add assault to the charges since Suzanne punched Ken without provocation. They were discussing the death penalty and some Ashkaddian phrase kept being thrown around and the men were discussing how Richard could ask for what sounded to Stevie like Tasnut Dailay or something like that. They were also discussing how Nicodemus might allow her and Colbie to call for Tasnut Dailay too and Stevie looked at Diane. 

“That Tasnut Dailay thing they keep talking about or whatever it is, what does that mean,” she asked Diane

“Tefnut Darshey. Means First Blood.”

“Do you know what that means?”

Diane shook her head. 

“No, but they seem to think you and Colb can do it with Richard.”

“Okay, I’m not sitting here wondering all night what that is. Bro!” Stevie said loudly to Richard. 

Lindsey and Mick giggled when Richard stopped in mid chew while he was listening to Mick speak. He swallowed the chip and took a sip of Coke before looking at her.

“Yes, sweet sis o’ mine?,” he said to her.

“What is…what was it again?” Stevie said to Diane.

“She wants to know what Tefnut Darshey means. I mean I told her it means First Blood but she wants to know what that is since you’re saying she and Colbie could ask for it.”

“It’s a very old ritual,” Richard said. “Basically, if you were a victim of a crime and there is punishment involved, you get to have a bit of revenge on your attacker, drawing first blood which is why it’s called that. I’m not sure what Suzanne’s punishment could be but as a vampire, but for instance, if I were involved, I would have the right to demand a whack at her first. I couldn’t perform the entire punishment or execution or whatnot but I’d be allowed to hit her or flog her or do something to her. Eye for an eye type of thing. We were talking about how Nicodemus might allow you the same privilege even though you’re not vampires and technically not eligible. I don’t know if he’d allow all of us to do it but I think he’d allow Ken since she punched the crap out of his face and threatened Colbie with death. “

“But Dad has a right to do it and me and Stevie don’t,” Colbie said. 

“Technically, no, but Nicodemus might make an exception in your case,” Ken said, walking over to her. “We can ask him when we get back to his house.”

“And would that include the slavehunters too?”

The men nodded. 

“Anyone who committed a crime against you,” Lindsey said. “And I’m thinking of the five who kidnapped you in the first place. You might be able to call Tefnut Darshey against them even though we stopped them. It was still attempted kidnapping and assault and breaking and entering.”

“But they might execute these people?” Diane said. 

The men looked at each other. 

“Maybe,” Mick said. “I know it sounds weird but betraying a clan member is a very serious offense and could be punishable by death. And that’s because a lot of vampires rely on the clans for protection and so you put your trust in your fellow clan members to have your back and protect you. If someone does something where they put your life in danger, that’s very severe in the eyes of most vampires and some find it unforgivable. But this has been going on now for some time, this whole stalking and harassing Lindsey and everyone else and I’m sure Nicodemus will also take that into consideration. I doubt the woman is gonna change her ways. Nicodemus has given her chance after chance and she never learned. And the woman is a nutter so short of a lobotomy; I don’t think she’d give up pursuing Lindsey, especially if she’s out for revenge now. Banishing her would only make it worse since then we’d all lose track of her so I think it’s gonna be something severe and that might include the death sentence.”

“Wow,” Colbie said. “Vampires mean business.”

“Yes, we undead are brutal, ruthless bastards,” Ken said. 

“Except for Ken, he’s a wanker,” John said.

Mick, Richard and Lindsey laughed when Ken took off running after him while trying to beat him over the head with his bottle of Coke.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty Seven

Stevie breathed a sigh of relief when they were at last back inside Nicodemus's private quarters. It was hard for her to believe that in just a few short days, she had come to regard this world as her world and this place was now just as comfortable to her as her own home. The friends she had made in her time here she cherished greatly and she looked forward to spending eternity with them. After losing people left and right over the past few years, she also looked forward to sharing a huge house with a large group of people as well as two dogs. And she was going to spend her lifetime being with the man she truly loved. 

She was led into the infirmary by Lindsey while Ken did the same with Colbie. Both women were urged to lie down and rest and both men kissed the women they loved before going back into the other room. Stevie lay there, listening to the voices in the other room, discussing what had happened and what the next step would be. She could hear her lover, bandmates, Frank, Felicia, Benjamin, Balthazar, Amber along with Nefrure and Nicodemus. Diane, Morgan and Karen were out there also but she hadn't heard them speak yet. She guessed it was because the three women didn't have much to contribute so far. 

"Are you still going to change, Stevie?"

Stevie turned her head and looked at Colbie. She was lying with her head on the pillow, facing her while she watched her silently. 

"Yes, are you?"

"Yes. Especially now that Mom and Morgan have done it. I asked Mom if it hurt and she said it wasn't too bad. The scariest part was the dying but Dad was there, talking her through it."

"Your dad's a good man."

Colbie nodded. 

"I don't remember him back then. I was one year old when he vanished. Morgan remembers him because she's older. I just knew him from interviews and photos and Mom talking about him. And I remember Mom and Morgan always crying because they missed him but I never did that since I never knew him. I'm glad I finally met him in person and he's exactly like Mom said he was. "

"Your dad was very proud of you. I remember when you were born and he came with you to my house to show you off the first moment he could. He was a very, very proud papa. And he's always been a great friend to me and everyone else. He's very loving and intelligent and loyal. I was so happy when Morgan was born because I knew he'd make a great dad. You and him are going to become very close."

Colbie nodded. 

"It's good being able to meet everyone my mom only talked about. Not just dad but Richard and Lindsey and Mick and John and Christine. Mom told me lots of stories about them too. And you get to be with Lindsey again."

Stevie smiled and nodded. 

"Yeah, he's gotten past all the anger and bitterness and he's the same sweet guy I fell in love with so I wouldn't mind an eternity with him. I'll just have to get used to having him in my mind. It's weird having Richard in my mind. I can feel his mood and I kinda sense what he's thinking, except it's not that strong. Maybe after the change, it gets stronger or something. But he's at peace which is a nice thing to know."

"Dad is too. And I can't really pick up on his thoughts either. But I just feel better feeling him inside me."

Stevie nodded. She noticed Colbie look past her to the door and looking over her shoulder, she saw Ken peeking in at them. 

"You guys okay? Need anything?" Ken asked them.

"I don't," Stevie said.

"I need a hug," Colbie said teasingly. 

Stevie was surprised when Ken just left without saying anything. But he came back thirty seconds later, holding John's hand. 

"She needs a hug. I'm busy so accommodate her," Ken said, pointing to his daughter when they reached her bed.

"Me, why me?" John said, watching Ken walk away while Stevie and Colbie giggled.

"Some father you are, Caillat!"

John smiled and bent down to hug Colbie.

"Sorry, love, it appears you have a neglectful father," John said as he hugged her. 

Ken came back in the room and hugged Colbie while John stood by and watched. 

"Anything else besides love and affection?" Ken asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Colbie said. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, just what's to be done with the buttholes," Ken said dismissively. "If they're going to be put to death or not, which they may end up being."

"What kind of death?" Stevie said. "I know Richard said you can only kill a vampire with sunlight or burning or beheading...so one of those then?"

"Yes. But there are ways to draw it out and make it a very torturous, gruesome death if you wanted to," Ken said. 

"Torture?" Colbie said. 

"Sometimes, like I said, depends on the severity of the crime," Ken said. 

"If she's lucky, she'll only lose her head," John said. 

"Have you guys seen something worse than just losing your head?" Stevie said.

"I haven't," John said, "but we've heard stories from Ben about a poor unfortunate fellow about fifty years ago who not only betrayed a clan member but that betrayal resulted in his death and the deaths of a couple of other innocent people. So they got very severe with his punishment. Bastard was flayed alive before they finally beheaded him."

Stevie's eyes boggled. 

"Oh my God and he couldn't die from that?" she said.

"No, he was conscious through the whole thing as Ben tells it. You don't have to attend the execution but he did because one of the innocent bystanders was one of his best mates and he wanted to see justice done. Which is why he knows what happened. And there was no Tefnut Darshay involved since the wronged party was dead. God only knows what that would have entailed had the bloke not died. I suppose he would have gotten to make the first cut into the skin or something like that?"

"Ugh," Colbie said, making a face. "I hope you don't have to do something like that to Suzanne, Dad."

"Nah, no one died so I doubt her punishment will be that severe but it'll be severe enough," Ken said. "Frankly, she would have gotten off lightly if she'd just left Richard and me and Chris and Amber alone. She could have argued that since you and Stevie were mortal, it wasn't illegal to take you. But when she took four vampires hostage, she crossed the line and now she has to at least stand trial for those crimes, if not yours."

"Although, I think Nicodemus is adding your crimes to the list," John said. "Either openly or if he can't, secretly but he definitely wants justice for you as well, mortal or not."

"Good," Stevie said, liking Nicodemus even better for that.

"The other thing is..." Ken said. "Your membership into the clan. I know Nicodemus made you honorary members but if you turn, you could both be official members and that gives you recognition and legal standing if something like this ever does happen again. But if you do join, you'll have to get a tattoo like we did," he said, pointing to the one on his arm. "Everybody does, it's a way to show that you belong here and there are ways to cover it up if you are going out to like a mortal restaurant or something."

"Jeremy did that. He had a fake tattoo and it was on a band-aide thing of some kind and he pulled it up to show the real tattoo underneath."

"Yes, that's what I'm talking about. And it looked real, didn't it? I mean you couldn't tell there was a patch there, right?"

"No, I had no idea."

"That's what I mean. Vampires have developed different cosmetic things to make us look like mortals if we need to. Not just the patches but they have makeup that can make your skin look mortal that's very convincing. It's because a lot of vampires do go up and visit the mortal world and they want to blend in. Or...for those who prefer to still hunt rather than get their blood from the store. Looking mortal helps them blend in too. But anyway, just letting you know that if you want to join the clan, which you don't have to, you do have to get a tattoo."

"I've never been a fan of tattoos but I like Nicodemus and I think getting a tiny tattoo on my arm is a small inconvenience for being a member here," Stevie said. 

"Do they have other tattoos in the vampire world?" Colbie asked.

"Yeah, they have tattoo parlors down below. You'll have to go to one to get the clan tattoo. Why? What are you thinking?" Ken said, narrowing his eyes.

"I was thinking of getting a tramp stamp that says UNDEAD SLUT across my back."

"You do and I'll send you to another clan house," Ken said while everyone else laughed. 

"Could get PROPERTY OF DICK DASH across the back as well," John said.

"No, that's even worse," Ken said. 

"Who's my property?" Richard said, peeking his head in while Lindsey stuck his head in underneath his.

Ken pointed to his daughter. 

"Ah yes, well she is, so...carry on," Richard said, sticking his head back out and walking away.

"I don't think so, Dashut!" Ken said while everyone in the other room laughed. "And my daughter's not gonna get a tramp stamp saying that!"

Lindsey snickered as he came inside the room followed by Richard. Lindsey sat down on the bed near Stevie while Richard walked around it and stopped at Colbie's side.

"Aren't you a bit old for tramp stamps and teenage rebellion, dear?" Richard said to Colbie. 

"Well, I'm just saying if I'm gonna get this clan tattoo, I might as well get another one besides it."

"Okay, but I got my clan tattoo and I didn't get one of those bleeding hearts with mom in it on my arm," Richard said. "You don't need a bunch of tattoos fouling up your beautiful skin, to be honest."

"Thank you, I agree," Stevie said. "Which is why I don't like tattoos in the first place."

She looked over when Mick strolled into the room. 

"So, the conversation is drifting into here now?" he said, looking at everyone.

"Well, Stevie and Colbie were listening to us, I suppose, so they might as well hear us without a room dividing everyone," John said. 

"We were just wondering about the kind of punishment Suzanne would get," Stevie said.

"Barbecue the bitch as far as I'm concerned," Mick said with a snort. "After all she's done; no death is good enough for that nutter."

"Also Steves, if you still want to go through with the turning, I'd at least wait till tomorrow night so you can get some rest," Lindsey said. "You've been through enough stress without dying and becoming a vampire on top of it."

"I agree. I'd wait too if I were you, Colb," Ken said. 

"I do wanna wait. I'm too tired to go through it tonight," Colbie said while Stevie nodded in agreement.

"One other question, you really, really want this knucklehead for your boyfriend?" Ken said, pointing to Richard.

"Yeah, he's sweet and intelligent and good looking and I wanna piss you off and do some of that teenage rebellion stuff you keep accusing me of doing."

Ken looked at Mick and John and shook his head while the men all chortled. Ken looked at Richard.

"Love her and treat her like a princess, Dashut, or you'll be the next person I slam face first into a wall."

"Now wait a moment, what do you think I am, Caillat, a dirty rapist? I have every intention of treating her like a princess so save your face slamming for Bitchzilla!"

"Just....fair warning, dear."

"Thanks, sweetie, it's always nice to be warned about crimes I have never done and have no intention of doing. I'll try to keep my bestial nature in check when I'm around your daughter."

"Is it me or does Ken and Richard remind you of Laurel and Hardy?" Mick said to John.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter Forty Eight

After a bit, everyone moved back into the other room and Stevie and Colbie were once again resting and listening in to what was going on. She heard Nicodemus confirming that she and Colbie’s crimes would be taken into consideration and she was thankful for that. She hated to think there was such a huge gulf between the mortal and immortal worlds but she supposed it was the same thinking as giving humans and chimpanzees equal rights. After hearing about how severe punishments could be in the vampire world, she wondered what Suzanne’s fate would be. She deserved whatever was coming to her but at the same time, she didn’t know if she could participate and draw first blood, especially if there was torture involved. Every once in awhile, her friends and lover would wander into the room, briefly check on them, ask if they needed anything and if not, would go back out again. The fact that the people she loved were outside the door gave her peace and comfort and soon she found herself drifting off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that nothing would happen to her here. 

She wasn’t aware of how long she slept but she sensed someone staring at her and she opened her eyes to see a young girl standing by the bed with Richard. The girl had light brown skin, long black hair that went down to the middle of her back and was tied back in a loose ponytail, bright, inquisitive brown eyes and a slightly chubby, cherubic face. The little girl was dressed in a dirty red shirt and scuffed blue jeans. She was watching Stevie silently while Richard stood behind the little girl with his hand on her shoulder. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Richard said. “Jeremy just came in with a little guest. This is Nadia. Apparently, she is alone in the world at the moment and no one’s sure what to do with her so Jeremy decided to bring her here to get some rest and attention. I think she was a bit curious about you because she came right to your bed.”

“Hi, Nadia,” Stevie said. 

Nadia smiled and waved shyly. Stevie glanced back over her shoulder at Colbie.

“She’s asleep,” Richard said, confirming what Stevie saw. “Anyway, I think we have a bed next to Colbie over here if you want to rest, hon. You want to rest?”

Nadia nodded and took Richard’s hand. He led her to a small bathroom at the back of the infirmary after asking if she needed to go. Richard quickly showed her where everything was inside the bathroom and once she was inside with the door closed, Richard walked back to Stevie.

“Jeremy hasn’t been able to get very much out of her so far. I think she’s very traumatized and that’s why she won’t talk. He did say that Nadia hinted that her family might have been killed when she was taken.”  
“Oh God,” Stevie said.

“Yeah. She’s also five. She held up five fingers when Jeremy asked. Other than that, Jeremy hasn’t gotten anything else from her. The women are going shopping for her though, getting her some clothes and hygiene items while we figure out what to do. At least she’s safe. Apparently, they had several children in the dungeons of that gladiator club.”

“I saw a few when I came out with Lindsey. God, that’s so disgusting.”

“Yes. I think the other children can be taken back to their homes though. All that’s left is Nadia.”

He looked over his shoulder when the bathroom door opened and Nadia poked her head out. Richard smiled and beckoned to her and Nadia walked back over to his side. 

“Hi, hon,” Stevie said when she reached her bedside.

Nadia smiled and waved hello. 

“I’m Stevie,” she said. 

Nadia didn’t say anything to that, only watched her silently. 

“And that’s Colbie,” Stevie said, pointing to her.

Nadia looked where she was pointing and Richard backed up so she could see her. Nadia walked over to her bedside and stood there, watching her sleep. Stevie smiled at this cute, shy little girl who seemed to be all alone now. Her stomach turned, thinking that this poor girl might have ended up being killed in one of the games. She was glad she was rescued along with the others; she only wished those two teenaged girls would have been among the saved. 

Once Nadia was done watching Colbie, Richard led her to the empty bed on the other side. He spoke to her gently and helped her take her shoes off and went and got her a glass of water while Nadia snuggled down under the covers. Richard put the glass of water on her bedside table and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before telling her in a soft voice to try to get some sleep. He turned and Stevie chuckled.

“Look at you, Daddy Dashut,” she teased.

“Hey, Ken and Mick aren’t the only ones who can be fatherly,” he said. “Did you need something?’’

“Nah, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Well, hold down the fort and keep an eye on our guest if you can.”

“Gotcha.”

Richard patted her shoulder and walked out of the room. Stevie smiled at Nadia. She was watching her quietly and Stevie waved when Nadia waved to her. They watched one another for a moment before Nadia got up and walked back over to her bed. Stevie smile when Nadia crawled under the covers with her and she put her arm around her when Nadia snuggled against her. Stevie watched her quietly while Nadia fell asleep and after Nadia was sleeping, Stevie closed her eyes and joined her.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter Forty Nine

Once again, Stevie had no idea how long she’d slept but she felt someone nudging her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at Lindsey. 

“I see you have a bed buddy here,” he said to her. 

Stevie looked at Nadia who was still asleep and snuggled against her peacefully. She looked up at Lindsey and nodded.

“You wanna get out of here? Go back to your own bed in our big comfy house?”

“I’d like nothing better. What about Nadia though?”

“She’s coming with us. We’re gonna try to find out more about her and see what we can do to help but I think she’ll feel safer being in an actual house than here. “

Stevie nodded. She slowly got up from the bed while Lindsey walked around and gathered Nadia into his arms. She didn’t wake and Lindsey held her close to him. As they walked out, Ken was walking in with Diane and Morgan. They paused and looked at Nadia who was still fast asleep. 

“How’s she doing?” Ken asked. 

“Seems to be okay. She was sleeping with Stevie when I came in and she hasn’t woken up.”

“She’s so cute, how old is she?” Morgan asked while Ken and Diane walked over to wake up Colbie.

“Five. That’s what Richard told me,” Stevie said.

“And she might have lost her whole family?” Morgan said.

“Yeah, that’s what Jeremy said. Nadia didn’t say much but she did tell him that. I don’t think she said if she knows of any other relatives though. But we’ll do all we can to reunite her with her family.”

“What if you can’t? Morgan asked.

“Not sure. We’ll have to deal with that if we come to it,” Lindsey said. “I think she’s in shock right now, I know I would be and once she feels she’s safe, she’ll be more talkative and open up. Then maybe we can find out her last name and if she has family nearby.”

Colbie came up beside Lindsey and stared at Nadia. Lindsey briefly told her what they knew about her and Colbie raised her eyebrows. 

“Five? Oh my God, they would have put a five year old in that cage thing?” she said.

“Most of those people have no scruples, Colb, trust me,” Ken said, laying a hand on her shoulder. “They aren’t vampires so they aren’t worth worrying about.”

Colbie shook her head. 

“I’m glad they got her away from that place then,” she said. “At least she’s coming home with us right now.”

“Yeah, we can get her something to eat and make her feel relaxed before we find out some more about her,” Lindsey said. “Plus, the dogs will looooove her to death.”

“Oh God, Renny will be hopping all over her body,” Ken said as everyone left the room. 

After wishing Nicodemus and Nefrure goodbye and promising to come and see them in a day or two to get the ball rolling on Suzanne and the slavehunter’s convictions, Stevie followed everyone outside to the elevator. Nadia was still fast asleep in Lindsey’s eyes and Stevie smiled, thinking how cute she looked in his arms. 

“”I have something for you,” Richard said to Stevie as they got inside the elevator.

“Yes?”

“It’s a...like a permission slip from Nicodemus saying that you are allowed to get the Osiris clan tattoo. He wrote one for everyone except Karen since she’s not officially joining.”

“And you need this permission slip to get the tattoo?”

“Yes. It’s a security measure. We’re not the only ones. Any person joining a clan has to have a letter or something like that to show the tattoo artist to prove that they are a member and they’re allowed to get the clan tattoo. Otherwise, anyone could come in off the street and get a clan tattoo and try to pass themselves off as a member.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” Stevie said, nodding.

“So, whenever you’re ready, take the letter to the tattoo parlor and show it to whoever is there and that gives you authorization.”

“But only for clan tattoos, I don’t need a letter to get a non-clan tattoo,” Stevie said.

“Uh…no, for that, you just need credits.”

“Good, I can go in without a letter and get my tramp stamp then.”

“You are not getting a tramp stamp, young lady,” Ken said to his daughter while everyone roared with laughter. 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stevie grinned when she stepped into the basement of the Victorin house. It felt so good to be home again. Lindsey grinned and made barking sounds and everyone laughed when they heard Renfield hit the close basement door before scratching on it and barking frantically. 

“Should we just stay down here and torment the little chap?” Mick said as they listened to Renfield’s frantic barking.

“Nah, let’s let the poor bastard off the hook before he barks himself hoarse,” Lindsey said.

As they walked towards the stairs, Stevie heard the elevator door close and go back down again. There were so many people now that they had to make two trips. She climbed the steps behind Lindsey after he apologized to her for not doing the escalator bit since his hands were filled with Nadia. She climbed the stairs, aware that the group of mortals had shrunk now and only she, Colbie and Karen remained. She wondered if Lindsey would be willing to turn her tonight. She also wondered if perhaps he would be willing to sleep with her the way John and Ken slept with their spouses. Even though she knew he’d be comatose by the morning, she still wanted to feel him next to her. Besides, she figured with all these extra people, they were gonna have to start pairing up till they could get more beds. Either that or use the sofa and chairs.   
Frank opened the basement door and everyone laughed when Renfield practically launched himself at his face. 

“Okay, you, I see ya,” Frank said, laughing, while Renfield tried to get at his face.

As everyone walked into the kitchen, Stevie heard the elevator door opening behind them, bringing in the second load. She stepped into the kitchen and looked around. As everyone fanned out and dispersed, she could see a bit better and she realized that Sulamith wasn’t in the kitchen. She called to her as she went towards the utility room. She walked towards the back door, guessing she was outside using the bathroom but when she went outside into the darkness, she couldn’t see her. She called for her and looked over her shoulder when the porch light went on behind her. Richard and Felicia were standing in the doorway.

“Looking for your dog?” Felicia said.

“Yeah, she wasn’t in the kitchen and I thought she might be out here using the bathroom.”

“I don’t see her,” Richard said, looking around. “She might be upstairs.”

“Yeah, if she’s up in the attic, she probably can’t hear you. I’ll go check. Just wait here.”

She turned and went back into the house while Richard came down the ramp. He looked everywhere and shook his head.

“No, don’t see her. Felice may be right. She might be upstairs and can’t hear you. Although…wait a moment, I’ll telepathically check.”

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes before he opened them again.

“No one’s seen her. Lindsey’s up on the second floor putting Nadia to bed and Ben and Mick are in the attic. No one’s seen her.”

“Crap, please don’t tell me she’s gotten loose,” Stevie said as she walked towards the fence, looking for a hole her dog could have gotten through.   
Richard took one more look around at the fence, using his enhanced eyesight to see if he could spot any holes.

“Stevie, does your dog dig holes?” he asked, coming down the ramp. 

“Not usually,” Stevie said, looking over her shoulder. “Although, I suppose if she thought I was gone, she might dig out of here to try to find me.”

Richard walked away from Stevie towards the other side of the fence. He stood a moment and looked at it, trying to find holes while Stevie walked the fence on her side, doing the same. Richard couldn’t see any holes so he turned around to help Stevie on her side and froze when his eyesight detected something under the ramp. He walked towards the ramp, knelt down and froze again. 

“Oh God.”

Stevie froze when she heard Richard and looked back at him.

“Stevie…um…Sulamith…is dead,” Richard said, looking at her.

Stevie ran over and knelt down beside Richard. She didn’t have the eyesight he had but she could still make out the outline of her dog in the darkness under the ramp. 

“Oh God,” Stevie said. 

She sighed. 

“I guess this isn’t a surprise though,” Stevie said dejected. “I think she died of old age. I hope so anyway.”

“How old was she?”

“Seventeen.”

“Oh! Okay, yes, um…she lived a very full life then,” Richard said. 

Stevie nodded. She noticed Richard closing his eyes and concentrating and she guessed he was relaying the news to the people in his mind link so they’d call off the search. 

“I guess she came out here to die,” Stevie said with a sigh. 

“Yeah, that’s normally what they do,” Richard said, putting his arm around her. “I think you’re right though, if she’d starved to death, Renfield would have been dead too and I didn’t see or smell any blood on Renny so I don’t think he attacked her. I think it was just her time to go.”

Stevie nodded and she and Richard shared a sideways hug. 

“Stevie?”

Stevie looked up when Lindsey leaned his head out the door.

“She’s under the ramp then?” Lindsey said to Richard.

Richard nodded and pointed. Lindsey came outside followed by Ken and his family. 

“She was seventeen so I think it was just old age,” Stevie said as everyone came over and knelt down. Ken peered in at Sulamith’s inert body.

“I don’t see any blood or signs she’d been in a fight,” he said. “Scooter did this too. When he was ready to die, he went and hid so no one could see him.”

“Poor Sulamith, she was a good doggy,” Morgan said. 

“We could bury her in the yard maybe over by the shed,” Lindsey said. “We’d have to make sure Renny doesn’t dig her back up though.”

“We could get a rock from the koi pond and put it over the dirt, that should stop Renny from digging,” Ken said. 

Stevie looked up. By now, everyone else except for Nadia had heard the news and everyone was coming outside to see. They gathered around Stevie and the ramp, hugging her, offering their condolences and planning what to do with Sulamith’s remains. Mick was squatting next to Stevie and he gave her a sideways hug.

“Sorry, love. Unfortunately, none of us have the desire to turn a dog,” he said to her. 

“It’s okay, I had seventeen wonderful years with her. She deserves to rest,” Stevie said. “Besides, I don’t think I wanna watch Sulamith drink a bowl of blood for all eternity.”

Mick nodded. He hugged her and Stevie smiled while the rest of her adopted family members did the same and offered their condolences.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter Fifty

Stevie stood outside with everyone gathered around her. Lindsey had fetched the shovel and they decided to bury Sulamith beside the shed. While he dug a hole, Frank found an old towel and he and Felicia carefully put Sulamith in it and wrapped her up. Now the wrapped body was near the hole Lindsey was making while everyone except Felicia watched. Felicia told Stevie that she wanted to stay near Nadia in case she woke up and was frightened and Stevie nodded, telling her she understood. Felicia hugged Stevie tightly before she headed back into the house. 

Once Lindsey was finished with the hole, he put the shovel back in the shed and joined the others around the hole. Mick and John gently picked up Sulamith's body and laid it down in the hole while a few others kept their eyes open for Renfield in case he decided to investigate. Once the body was laid in the hole, Lindsey looked at Stevie.

"Do you want to say anything, babe?" he said. 

"Just that she was a good dog and I'm glad she went peacefully after having a very long life. I'm hoping she's in a better, happier place and she has all the food, treats and toys she could ever want."

"She didn't look ill or anything," John said. 

"No, I think her body just gave out in the end," Stevie said. "She was active even at seventeen."

"Well, that's because she lived with a woman who twirls even though she's a senior citizen," Ken said. 

Stevie grinned when the others laughed.

"So you're saying I have special twirl magic that kept her youthful," Stevie said teasingly to Ken.

"Hey, that or she was inspired. If my mistress can twirl in her sixties, I can go out and bark at imaginary squirrels," Ken said with a shrug.

"That's the thing," Karen said. "We won't be hearing her bark at that tree anymore."

"Yeah but we know now what it was she was barking at," Stevie said.

"Yeah, the peeping tom vampires," Karen said, raising her eyebrow at the vampires around her.

"Hey, we did it in the interest of making sure Stevie survived all that Klonopin and we just kept on going after she recovered," Richard said. "But I am glad I met Sulamith finally after watching her from the treetops."

"Yeah, she was a good little dog," Christine said. "And now Ginny has company in the afterlife."

"And Sara Bellladonna," Stevie said, nodding.

"You know, no offense, Steves, but you have some freaky names for your pets," Lindsey said, poking her side playfully. "At least Ken stuck to Scooter and didn't call him Scooter Dark Lord Barkthowlemew or something like that."

Ken chuckled.

"Scooter was a nice, dignified name for my dog. Not...what it was you just said."

"To be honest, you should have called him Scooter Sex God Supreme since the dog was always on the prowl for booty," Richard said.

"Really?" Colbie said, amused.

"Stevie, you don't mind if I tell a slightly off color story to Colbie at Sulamith's funeral, do you?"

"Nah, go ahead. Sulamith lived with a bawdy woman so she wouldn't mind," Stevie said to Richard.

"I don't know how much you know about Scooter but your dad took him to the studios when we were recording Rumours and Tusk and he usually lay there under the console while we worked. He was like a little mascot of sorts but the dog was a beagle and beagles are supposed to have a reputation for being horny. Anyway, I was working one day, minding my own business and suddenly Scooter launched himself at my leg and humped it for all it was worth. And your father sat there and laughed at me while I tried to pry his dog off my leg."

Ken chuckled.

"Scooter was just practicing, staying in shape in case he really did get some action," Ken said. 

"Okay, then maybe you should have gotten him a mannequin leg and let him practice on that," Richard said. "That dog was relentless too, he had a firm grip, I'll give him that."

Colbie and Morgan giggled and Stevie smiled, picturing Richard flailing his leg around while Scooter held on and humped the shit out of it. The image of that cheered her up a little and she thought of Scooter, Ginny, Sara Belladonna and Sulamith, all good dogs that had brought so much happiness into her life. When everyone was ready, Lindsey began to fill the hole back in while Mick went and got a large rock from the rock formation beside the koi pond. With his vampire strength, it didn't take long for Lindsey to fill in the hole. Once it was filled, he, Frank and John stamped down on the dirt, trying to tamp it down while Mick waited nearby with the rock in his hands. When they were finished, Lindsey nodded to Mick and he came forward and set the rock down on the soil. 

"Doesn't cover it completely but enough I think it'll be a deterrent if Renny has any ideas about digging his friend up," Mick said, standing up and looking the rock over. 

Stevie smiled when everyone hugged her and offered their condolences before they all headed back inside.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the house settled down, everyone decided to order some pizza and fixings and celebrate the return of their missing family members. While Mick was calling Pizza Hut, Stevie managed to get Lindsey alone and she asked him about turning her.

"Now? Wouldn't you at least like some pizza while you have the strength to enjoy it?"

"No, I mean I'd love to eat with you guys but perhaps later on tonight?"

"Sure, babe, um....my, this is a full house though. I'm just thinking....i suppose we can do it downstairs in the basement. Just wondering how intimate you want it to be."

"It can be intimate or not if that's not possible, Linds."

"Well, if we went down in the basement, no one would bother us down there since they'd know what we were doing. Actually, we should ask Ken too since I'm sure Colbie might want to be turned. Not in the basement though, I'm thinking he'd do what he did for Morgan and just hold her while he took her blood. Then we helped keep her upright while she changed. We could probably do that on the sofa later on and then me and you in the basement since you do want intimacy. Sound good?"

"Sounds very good. But poor Karen, she'll be last mortal standing after tonight."

"Hey, we keep offering and she keeps turning us down," Lindsey said with a shrug. "But it's her choice, you know. We're not going to force her to turn like we were forced. I'm just glad she's willing to still be your friend and be loyal to you."

"Yeah, she's great. She's been a Godsend all these years. Especially after you guys went missing and I became a mess."

Lindsey put his arm around her and drew her closer.

"I'm sorry, Steves. We never should have waited thirty years to let you know we were still here," he said.

"I know, Linds. I forgive you guys. I mean, I completely understand, especially after everything I've seen in the vampire world. You weren't hiding to be cruel, you thought it was the best thing for everyone since it is kinda traumatic knowing you're undead. Or was...I'm used to it now but it's still weird, knowing that you're not breathing and I am. Although I suppose that'll be remedied later on tonight," she added while Lindsey grinned. "And I was going to ask if you'd sleep with me the way Ken sleeps with Diane and John sleeps with Chris but I'm guessing you were planning to do that anyway."

"Yes, especially since there's a plethora of people here now."

"Plethora of people?" Stevie said, amused.

"Yes, a plethora of pale people," Lindsey said. 

He smiled when Stevie chuckled at that and kissed her cheek. 

"Linds, what will happen to Nadia if we can't find her family or there's no one else," Stevie said. 

"Not sure, Steves. I'm not sure what will happen."

"Can you adopt her? I mean, all of you, not just you."

"I suppose we could."

"Is that normal? I mean, there aren't any children so that's why Richard adopted me as an adult."

"Well, no, there are children but...most vampires don't turn them because they don't want them getting stuck in child bodies as they age. But vampires do adopt mortal children and raise them. Then when they are old enough, they let them decide if they want to turn or not, at least that's the norm. So if...we couldn't find Nadia's family and if she was agreeable to it, I suppose we could all raise her. She seems like a sweet kid and not some hellcat hellion that will make our lives miserable. We'd have to discuss it with the rest of the house, of course, but I have a feeling there wouldn't be any objections if no one can find her family. I mean, I for one don't want to see her turned out onto the streets with no one to turn to."

"I don't either," Stevie said, shaking her head. 

"Let's discuss it over dinner in the living room. We haven't shown you that Dracula's Castle episode with Twilight yet so we could do that plus hold a meeting to see what everything thinks of adopting if it comes to that."

"Sounds good to me."

She gasped when Lindsey suddenly wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"And tonight, you shall become my bride for all eternity!" he said with a crappy Bela Lugosi accent. "You shall serve me as you served me in life!"

"Really? And when exactly did I serve you, Count Dracula?" Stevie teased. 

Lindsey noticed Richard was heading towards the stairs where they were standing. He grinned.

"It was in 1972," he said with his bad accent. "I told Richard to get me a bowl of vanilla ice cream and he didn't get off his fat ass to do it so I commanded you to do it and you did, bwa ha ha!"

"Believe me, Lindsey," Richard said as he moved past him and Stevie and went up the stairs. "The last thing your chunky butt needed back then was another bowl of ice cream, especially since your stoner ass barely moved except to get more ice cream!"

Stevie laughed while Lindsey flipped off Richard's back as his friend headed to the second floor. 

"I saw that, Buckingham," Richard called out as he stepped onto the second floor.

"Really? Blind as a Bat Dashut? I thought you couldn't see shit and that's why you need four eyes!"

"Sis, beat the crap outta him for me, okay? I would but I'm up here and I don't feel like going back down to do it."

"Oh, now who's being lazy, Dyslexic Dashut? You accuse me of lying around on my fat ass and you won't even come down ten steps to give me a beating."

Stevie laughed when Richard leaned over the upstairs railing, rolled his eyes and went on his way.

"I'm superior to you in every single way, Dickie Boy!" Lindsey called up.

"I doubt that very much, Fuckingham!" Richard called back.

Stevie laughed hysterically at the peeved look on Lindsey's face.

"The nerve of that guy, calling me Fuckingham. Just because the first part of my name rhymes with that," Lindsey said to Stevie.

"Actually," Ken said as he stepped through the doorway carrying a small basket filled with his laundry, "Suckingham works too but I like Fuckingham much better."

"Who asked you?" Lindsey said to Ken's retreating back while Stevie bent over laughing.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter Fifty One

Stevie went upstairs to check on Nadia. On the way there, she looked into Richard and Ken's room and smiled when she saw Ken putting his clothes away in his dresser drawers. Amused, she came to the door and watched him. At first, Ken had his back to her while he picked up a stack of neatly folded shirts, he turned and was taken aback for a moment seeing her there before giving her a warm smile and walking to the open drawer of his dresser. 

"I need to write a song about this," Stevie said. 

"Song about what?"

"About a vampire who does his laundry and puts away his laundry."

Ken was nonplussed. 

"Why would you write a song about that?"

"Because it's weird seeing a vampire do that," Stevie said. 

Ken chuckled.

"I like clean clothes just as much as mortals do," he said. "I'm sure even Dracula liked being in clean clothes, although living in a dusty, moldy castle meant it must have been a bitch to keep everything clean."

Richard came into the room and looked at his bed.

"Do I get this back or is it still hijacked?" he said to Ken.

"Well, I would like my family to be with me instead of sleeping out on the lawn."

"Yeah, but...my bed," Richard whined.

He chuckled when Ken rolled his eyes at that. 

"Okay, well, I'll sleep with your daughter then since we're gonna have to share beds. And I'm not gonna rape her, Caillat," he said while Ken sighed. "I will be a gentleman towards her."

"Speaking of, I wanted to change later on tonight," Stevie said to Ken. "I think Linds and me are going down to the basement but I was wondering about Colbie and if she'd want to do it too."

"Hmm, she might, I'll have to ask her."

"Then we can be together for all eternity!"

"On second thought, I don't think changing her is a good idea. I refuse," Ken said while Stevie giggled. 

Mick was passing by the door when he suddenly paused, noticing there were several people in the room.

"Pizza's on its way," he said, coming inside. 

Ken frowned when Mick walked over to his laundry basket, plucked a shirt off the top of the pile and left the room with it.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Bring that back!" Ken yelled while Richard and Stevie snickered.

"I'm sorry, I thought this was mine, my bad, mate," Mick said, coming back in the room and handing it to him. 

"As you can see, we're constantly harassing and teasing each other here," Ken said, putting the shirt in his drawer. 

"Yeah, and I'm the one who gets the lion's share of it," Richard said. 

"That's because you're an easy target," Mick said, ruffling his hair.

"And because you insist on wearing glasses," Ken added.

Richard sighed. He took his glasses off and put them on Ken's face. Ken adjusted the glasses and looked at Stevie.

"You look good. You look studious with those on," she said to him.

"Studious. Is that another name for dorky?" Ken said. 

"No, I think you look handsome with them on."

"I do, eh? Maybe there is something to this glasses thing then," Ken said. 

Mick took them off his face and tried them on. 

"You look dorky," Ken said. 

"And you don't?" Mick said. 

"Not according to Stevie."

"Yeah, that's enough of that," Richard said, taking his glasses back while Mick and Ken sniggered. 

Mick patted Richard's shoulder. He turned to go out the door and stopped short when he saw Nadia was standing by it, listening quietly.

"Hello, love, you being sneaky?" Mick said to her. 

He took her hand and led her inside the room. Nadia waved at Richard and Stevie but when she looked at Ken, she stared at him quietly.

"I'm Ken, hi," Ken said, guessing she was staring at him because she didn't know who he was. "And that's Mick. This is our house. We brought you here so you can rest and have some pizza. Do you like pizza?"

Nadia smiled and nodded. Stevie decided to take the initiative. She told Nadia to follow her and Nadia smiled and did as she asked while she left the room. 

"This is a pretty house, it's very nice," Stevie said as she and Nadia went downstairs. "And there's a dog here too. You like dogs?"

Nadia nodded. 

"You don't have to be afraid of anyone here; they're not like the people that kidnapped you. Everyone's very nice here. And you can talk if you want, no one will hurt you."

Nadia hesitated a moment.

"Okay," she said softly. 

Stevie beamed, glad she was able to get her to do that much. They walked into the living room and Renfield immediately ran to them, his tail wagging. Nadia smiled and pet him while Renfield took little hops up towards her face, trying to get at her. 

"There he goes, trying to lick someone's face off again," John said as he and Christine walked into the living room. 

"And you're surprised by that?" Christine said to him.

"Nah, I'm just surprised he didn't do it sooner," John said as he and Christine stopped by Stevie. "I'm surprirsed he didn't smell Nadia the moment she came in."

"We did get her some clothing and toiletries," Christine said to Stevie. "Not much but it's a start."

"Do you want to take a shower and get changed, hon, before pizza comes?" Stevie asked Nadia.

"Yes."

John and Christine were shocked. They looked at one another before they looked at Stevie.

"She spoke?" Christine said. 

"Yeah, I told her it was okay and there was nothing to be scared of. And she said okay to me."

"Well, I'm glad you trust us, love," Christine said, putting a hand on Nadia's shoulder. "We're nothing like the bastards that kidnapped you." 

Nadia nodded. Christine went and got the sack of clothes and toiletries and she, Stevie and John showed her the first floor bathroom and the shower. They told her that they would be in the living room when she came out. Nadia nodded, took the sack, went inside and shut the door. Everyone sat down in the living room to wait on her and the pizza and while they did that, Stevie told them what she told Lindsey about possibly adopting Nadia. Christine shared a glance with her mate. 

"I wouldn't mind doing that," Christine said. "Provided we can't find anyone related to her. She needs a home after all."

"Yes, although I have a feeling we'll have to buy the house next door just to have room for everyone now," John said. "Or build underground."

"Nah, we'll go next door, kill the people, drain their blood and take possession of their house," Christine said while Stevie chuckled.

"Really? Do you think that's wise?" John said to her.

"Yes. Because that would stop them blasting their stereo in the wee hours of the morning."

"Does that happen often?" Stevie said, glancing at Richard, Ken and Mick as they came into the living room.

Christine grinned.

"YES! THE WANKERS NEXT DOOR LOVE THEIR LOUD STEREO!" she yelled to get the men's attention.

The three men giggled and turned to look at them.

"Don't tell Stevie about our lovely neighbors, she might not stay," Richard said. 

"On the other hand, it's always lovely to hear Backstreet Boys blasting at four in the morning, especially with our extra sensitive hearing," Ken said. 

"Backstreet Boys at four in the morning? Seriously?" Stevie said.

The three men shared a glance and snickered. Meanwhile, Lindsey and Frank, who had been in the kitchen came into the living room and joined them.

"About two weeks ago, I think, it was nearing the time when we usually go to sleep," Lindsey said. "We were preparing for bed when suddenly EVERYBODY! ROCK YOUR BODY, EVERYBODY ROCK YOUR BODY RIGHT, BACKSTREET'S BACK, ALRIGHT!"

Stevie bent over laughing.

"And like I said, this was being heard with our ultra-sensitive hearing," Ken said. "So it felt like my damn brain was being ripped apart. If my brain is going to be ripped apart sonically, I'd rather it be done by Zeppelin and not the Backstreet Boys. Sheesh."

"I heard them though, they were thinking about going next door, killing the people and seizing their house," Lindsey said, pointing to Stevie, John and Christine.

"If we do, can we tie them up next to the stereo speakers and blast Backstreet Boys in their ears before we kill them?" Richard said.

"Or..." Frank said. "We turn them, then tie them up and blast the music so they can know what it feels like to be us."

"That!" John said. "That is the best idea I've heard in ages. They need to know what it feels like to be tortured by Backstreet Boys."

"Frank," Stevie said. "Knowing that you've been a vampire since the Civil War, do you like modern music? I mean I have to confess I don't really know what was popular in the 1860's but I'm guessing you don't like Backstreet Boys."

"Well, actually..."

Frank shut up when all eyes turned to him.

"Oh God, you're not a fan of the Backstreet Boys, are you?" Richard said. 

"Well, I mean some of their songs aren't that bad."

Stevie laughed when all the men stared at him long and hard.

"Have you learned nothing from us and our music choices over the years?" Ken said to him. 

"I learned y'all don't like the Backstreet Boys?" Frank said hesitantly.

"Okay, guys, we gotta educate this man some more so starting tomorrow, wall to wall Hendrix, Zeppelin and Beatles before he finds out he loves the Archies and Donny and Marie," Ken said. 

Stevie laughed when Frank gave Ken a playful shove on the arm before he and Lindsey went back into the kitchen.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty Two

Stevie had to admit, the evening was amazing. Especially after being held captive. They had the usual pizza and sides and they watched the episode of Dracula’s Castle her friends kept raving about. Lindsey had been right about the humor being easy to understand, even though she and Colbie still had to rely on the subtitles while the others didn’t. She envied Diane and Morgan since they didn’t have to watch and read at the same time but she was happy that she would soon be joining them.

She had to admit she did love the way they poked fun at Twilight, even though she was a huge fan. There was one scene in particular that she loved where Edward and Bella were traveling to Dracula’s castle in a stagecoach. At first the window blinds were down because Bella didn’t like the sun, being emo and all. But the moment Edward decided he’d had enough and raised one, there was suddenly a blinding brilliance coming from his body and Stevie laughed when Bella screamed at him to put the window shade back down. Once he did, the glow vanished and Bella chided him for doing that, implying that the glow had been an extreme version of Edward’s sunlight sparkle. She loved the show, the sheer corniness of it, the slapstick and the fact that everyone was being portrayed as an idiot. She thought it was interesting, seeing this peek into the vampire mindset and how they viewed mortal’s portrayals of them. 

Every once in awhile, she’d look over at Nadia who was sitting by Lindsey eating pizza and sipping Coke. She was watching too but Stevie couldn’t tell if she could understand what was going on or not. She was only five so she guessed she wasn’t able to read well enough to follow the closed captioning and she never laughed or said anything but she wasn’t sure if that was because she didn’t get the show or if it was because of her usual shyness. 

After the show ended, they chatted for awhile, letting the food digest before the subject of turning was brought up. Ken looked at Colbie and asked her if she was ready. 

“Yeah but what about Nadia. Will she get scared seeing all this?” Colbie said, nodding at her. 

Lindsey looked at Nadia for a moment and then got up, walked over to Ken and whispered something in his ear. Ken nodded. 

“Yeah, in this case, it might be a good idea. Because I don’t know if she’ll stay in bed,” Ken said. 

Stevie was wondering what was going on. She watched while Lindsey walked back over to Nadia, sat down beside her and cupped his hands over her ear. He spoke something and suddenly, Nadia’s face went blank. Lindsey leaned back up and looked at her. 

“In case you’re wondering,” Ken said. “Lindsey used the Voice on Nadia. He’s temporarily zoning her out so she can’t see what’s going to happen to Colbie, just in case it traumatizes her.”  
“Don’t worry, guys, she’s perfectly fine, just zoned out at the moment,” Lindsey said.

“Is that okay, Colb?” Ken said. “She’s unaware of what’s happening until we snap her out of it.”

Colbie nodded. Everyone made room for her to sit next to him on the sofa. Stevie went and sat on Lindsey’s lap while Colbie sat with her father. 

“Do you need me to distract again?” Richard said to Ken. 

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I need you to be calm, after all,” Ken said to his daughter.

“It’s not bad, Colbie,” Morgan said. “It’s not as bad as you think anyway.”

Colbie nodded. She sat down beside her father while Richard sat down on her other side. 

“I did this for your sister, she was a bit nervous,” Richard said. “And unlike your mom, he couldn’t caress you or anything like that. So I’m going to help talk you through this because we don’t want to use the Voice on you, unlike our little friend there. So…what I did the last time was talk about a past memory so…anything you wanna know about your dad that I could tell you about?”

“Did you play pranks on each other?”

“Sometimes and we played pranks on the band too. We tried to lighten the mood as much as possible,” Richard said. 

“Which wasn’t always easy,” Mick said. 

“Did you do a lot of drugs?” Colbie asked him.

“Me? I did some but your dad and me couldn’t go wild with the drugs because we had to have some control over ourselves in order to work the console. But there were times when I got drunk.”  
“Yeah, especially at Chinese restaurants,” Lindsey said.

“Chinese restaurants?” Colbie said to Richard while Richard’s friends snickered.

“Yeah, back when I lived with Lindsey and Stevie, we frequented this Chinese restaurant and we basically got drunk, had food fights and drove the staff to near insanity. I doubt we could get away with that nowadays.”  
He took Colbie’s hand when Ken got near her neck. 

“Yeah, I think your dad’s about ready. But yeah, I used to have a fondness for drink.”

“That’s an understatement,” Ken said as he paused near Colbie’s neck. “You got even more drunk than I did.”

“Yeah, but you were more into weed so I was drunk and you were high so it all balanced out,” Richard said. 

“Well, considering we had to put up with five people in turmoil, I believe being drunk and high helped,” Ken said. 

“Actually, yes it did,” Richard said. 

Ken chuckled before he looked at his daughter.

“Ready, Colb?” he said to her.

“Um…ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Colbie said. 

Richard held Colbie’s hand, watching while Ken let his canines elongate. Once he was ready, he gently pushed Colbie’s hair away from her neck. He glanced back at Nadia to check on her and when he saw she still had a blank look on her face, he looked at Richard.

“Three count again,” he said to him.

Richard nodded and let his friend position himself so his teeth were over Colbie’s jugular. He smiled tenderly at Colbie when he saw the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. 

“It’s okay, everyone is here and you’re not going to be alone, okay?” Richard said gently. “Ready, Ken?”

Ken gave him a thumb’s up. Richard counted to three and he squeezed Colbie’s hand when she gasped the moment her father’s fangs penetrated her skin. But then she quieted while Ken fed on her daughter’s blood.

“Okay, that wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Colbie said. “Doesn’t hurt now.”

“No, it really doesn’t if it’s done right,” Lindsey said. 

“You guys really did suffer when you were attacked?” Colbie said.

“Um…yeah, to put it mildly,” Richard said. “Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t rip our throats out as rough as they were being but I suppose that wasn’t the point. The point was to turn us so they were cruel without it killing us.”

He noticed Colbie was now becoming groggy and he scooted closer to her, ready to support her. Colbie was now beginning to gasp and because of the mind link, Richard could sense his friend’s emotions where he couldn’t before when he turned his wife and Morgan. He could sense his anguish and even though he was still calm and kept on turning his daughter, inside Richard knew that it was his father’s love and need to protect his daughter that was causing the anguish. He couldn’t blame him. He would hate to drain his daughter of her blood and listen to her slowly dying, knowing that he was the cause of it. He knew that most of the people in the room had mind linked to Ken too so he figured they could also sense it, although looking around no one was reacting to that revelation. But he was glad this was the last person Ken had to turn since he was sure Diane dying wasn’t fun for him either. 

Finally, it was time. Richard held Colbie and gently tipped her head back while Ken dripped blood into her mouth. Then the dying began and again Richard sensed his friend’s anguish at watching her daughter’s fear while her body was shutting down. By this time, everyone in the room except for Nadia was gathered around, helping her cross over. Finally, Colbie took her last breath and relaxed. Then they watched as she transformed before she woke to her new life. Now Richard felt Ken’s relief and love for his daughter while he embraced her. He had originally gone to college to be a psychologist and it was the psychologist in him that was fascinated by his friend’s shifting moods during the change. He was willing to be any therapist would love to have the ability to feel their patient’s moods, especially when they are trying to determine a diagnosis. When it was said and done, he was glad that the change was successful. Now there was only one left and he was sure that it was going to be a hell of a lot more romantic that Colbie’s change had been.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty Three

At last the moment had come and Stevie found she was now incredibly nervous about it. Colbie was now in Richard's bed resting. She had drunk two glasses of blood and was sleeping peacefully with Ken going in every once in awhile to check on her wellbeing.

After her conversion, Richard helped Ken get Colbie comfortable in bed while the other men prepared the basement. The women sat with Nadia who was now back to normal and was looking at a picture book Christine had purchased from a store.

Finally, after an hour, the men returned and Lindsey beckoned to Stevie. She took his hand and he led her to the basement.

"Gotta warn ya, Steves. 99 percent of the people in this house have ultra sensitive hearing so keep that in mind in case you want this to become physical. 

"At the moment, I really don't care. Unless they're gonna go down and film everything."

"They do and they won't have any heads."

As they went down the stairs, Stevie could see candles burning in all four corners and she caugt a whiff of lavender scent in the air.

It's a bit hard to make it romantic but we tried," Lindsey said.

It's okay, Lindsey, all I really care about is you're here with me."

Lindsey grinned at that and kissed her lips.

"My love," he murmured. "Finally, we can be together for all eternity."

"After all these years, I've finally made it back to you."

"I knew one day you would. I never gave up hope that we would be together again."

He fell silent a moment when he heard Felicia laughing upstairs beyond the closed door. He heard the fridge door open and close before he heard Felicia's voice fading as she was going in the other room.

"I'll definately have to take you to a love hotel one night to make up for the lack of privacy here," he said to Stevie. "But no one will come down here and bother us, I promise you that."

He kissed Stevie's cheek before he helped her lay down gently on the pillows. He lay down beside her and began snogging her as his hand slipped up under her shirt and pushed up her bra. Stevie moaned into his mouth as he fondled her breasts. As he ran his hands up and down her sides, she suddenly heard a faint chuckle inside her mind. 

Ok, she heard Richard saying in her mind, I can definately tell this is getting erotic so I'm sealing the mental gateway between us for the moment so you can have privacy. Enjoy your turning, sis.

Richard, don't tell the others this is going on right now, she thought back.

No worries. My mouth is firmly shut. See you when you're undead, Stevie.

See you later, Richard.

There was a moment of silence and then suddenly there was a void in her mind where Richard's consciousness had been. The sudden void was so jarring she couldn't help but gasp. Lindsey who'd been kissing her cheek jerked his head back at the gasp and asked what was wrong. When Stevie told him, he smiled and nodded. 

I forgot he did link with you back at the club. I'm glad he's being a gentleman and giving you privacy. But yeah, that's one reason why I was always reluctant to link minds with someone, because you do get used to that other mind and it's shocking when you suddenly can't feel it. But you won't have that problem after I turn you and we have the blood bond. You'll always be able to feel me in your mind, no matter what."

Stevie smiled at that before they resumed snogging. Stevie lost herself in the moment, loving the feel of Lindsey's body near hers and even loving the feel of his ice cold hands roaming her body as he kissed her. She was so used to his cold body that she was sure if it did warm up suddenly, she would be shocked at that too. She knew very shortly, that her body temperature would be the same as his. It thrilled her rather than scared her because it meant they would be together forever.

Lindsey moved one hand down and slipped it into her pants as he kissed her face and neck. Stevie moaned as he fondled her while at the same time kissing down her jugular vein. She knew this was his way of getting her relaxed while getting her used to his mouth being on her jugular vein. She ran her fingers up and down his back, hoping that when the moment did come, the penetration wouldn't be as painful as it looked when Colbie reacted to her father entering her neck. As she ran her hands over Lindsey's ass, she was vaguely aware of Renfield barking upstairs before Mick asking him if he wanted a treat. She couldn't help but grin at that, imagining Lindsey butt naked asking her if she'd like a treat while he pointed to his rock hard cock. She was able to keep from laughing but it did bring a huge smile to her face.

For the next twenty minutes, Lindsey and Stevie caressed and fondled each other until Stevie was completely relaxed and at peace.

So when the moment finally did come, Stevie was only half aware of the sharp pain, so lost was she in the ecstacy of being intimate with her lover. She felt a warm wetness on her skin after he bit that she vaguely registered in her mind as her blood oozing out of the puncture marks. But then Lindsey put his mouth over the wounds and Stevie felt a gentle sucking sensation. Because Lindsey's lips were now preoccupied, she could only fondle his body since Lindsey was forcing her head to go to the side as he fed.

She was only able to keep her ministrations going for a few minutes before her body became weak from blood loss. Her hands slipped down to her sides as she stared off into space. She was growing weaker with each passing second and it was getting harder to breathe.

She felt dizzy and the room was spinning and fear began to ease it's way into het mind. She weakly called to Lindsey, vaguely wondering if she'd even said his name or if she just imagined it.

Then when it felt as though she would slip away from her earthly existence, she was vaguely aware that Lindsey had stopped feeding and was now biting into his wrist. Barely able to get a breath now, she watched mutely while Lindsey put the open wounds over her open mouth. She was vaguely aware of Lindsey's blood dripping into her mouth.

"Swallow, my darling. Be with me forever," Lindsey murmured as he smoothed her hair back from her face.

Stevie didn't know how but she somehow found the strength to swallow Lindsey's blood. There was a pause that was probably only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity to Stevie before there was sudden pain all over her body. Stevie tried to keep calm, knowing this was her death but just as she'd been warned, her self preservation instinct kicked in and she began to fight. She heard Lindsey in her ear telling her to let go and not be afraid but it was easier said than done. Vaguely, she wished that Richard hadn't closed himself off since she would have welcomed the calming presence of his mind in her own right now. She felt herself fading and finally she lost the last bit of strength to fight and with one final breath, her world grew dark.

Then there was an odd silence. Stevie saw no light, no tunnel, bo friends, family, pets angels, Jesus or God. There was nothing but darkness and silence. She knew that this was when her body was changing and she wouldn't be here long but it was still disconcerting being in the middle of nowhere.

Then suddenly it was like a movie had been switched in in a completely dark theater and suddebly she saw the world around her again and most importantly, she saw the man she loved smiling at her as he held her in his arms.

"Happy birthday, my darling," he said before giving her a kiss.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty Four

As Stevie lay in Lindsey's arms, she tried to get her bearings. She realized they hadn't been kidding about being confused and disoriented at first. Her mind struggled to catch up with current events and focus. But she was still weak and exhausted but she was glad she finally did it.

The other thing that was disturbing was her newly enhanced senses were currently out of whack. She had to shut her eyes a couple of times because the vivid colors hurt her eyes too much. Lindsey noticed her distress and kissed her cheek.

"You'll get used to it soon, love"

Stevie was amazed. Lindsey had whispered that but she'd heard it loud and clear as if he'd spoken in his normal voice.

"Are you thirsty?"

Stevie nodded. Lindsey didn't move and for a moment Stevie wondered if he'd seen the nod and he was waiting for her to answer. Then the basement door opened and everyone came down, except for Colbie, Nadia and Renfield. Stevie realized Lindsey must have told the others they were finished through the mind link. Christine was holding a glass of blood and Lindsey helped her sit up so she could drink it. As she drank, she was surprised that the cold blood tasted so good. But she remembered asking Richard about that and him telling her that blood tasted good because a vampire needed it. She didn't care what the reason was, she was just glad they had some for her.

While she drank, she suddenly felt Richard's consciousness in her mind again. She glanced at him. He was standing beside Mick and John quietly watching her drink the blood with a smile on his face. She was glad he and everyone else was here. She figured they were making a point of it since they were turned without any support and left to fend for themselves.

After drinking a second glass of blood, Lindsey took her upstairs in his arms while everyone followed. They took her to her room which had been prepared in her absence. Lindsey lay her down gently in the bed and he and John pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Lindsey kissed her cheek and told her to get some sleep and he'd be in later. Everyone wished her a good night before they left. Stevie watched them go, grateful she had so many good friends, before she shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next thing she knew she was waking up violently with her head pounding.

"Easy, babe, it's okay," Lindsey said, laying a hand on her shoulder. 

She looked up and he, Richard, Mick and Ben were standing by the bed. At first she didn't get what was going on or why her head was pounding but then she realized someone was playing a stereo full blast.

"Of all the nights for the neighbors to crank the stereo up," Lindsey said. 

"Yeah. They have perfect timing, I'll give them that," Richard said angrily.

"Wait. Are these the neighbors who play Backstreet Boys at four in the morning?," Stevie said groggily.

"The very same, love," Mick said. "Except it seems to be Styx at the moment."

Stevie realized then that the noise was Babe by Styx cranked up full blast.

"Please for the love of all that's holy, don't play Mister Roboto," Richard moaned.

"What time is it?" Stevie said.

"About half past three in the morning," Benjamin said.

"Damn these people!"

Stevie looked over when Ken entered the room with his family. He was gritting his teeth while he held Colbie in his arms. Colbie was groggy and wrapped in a blanket with her hands over her ears. Diane and Morgan stood beside him, also with their hands over their ears.

"That's it, I'm calling the police tonight," Lindsey said, getting into his pocket for his cell phone. "We have four newly turned people who don't need to be hearing this torture when they're trying to recover. Excuse me everyone while I go find the number for the cops. He stepped outside but was back ten seconds later holding Nadia's hand.

"Okay, make that five people. I found her hiding out in the hallway. Apparently, she doesnt like the noise either."

Richard took Nadia's hand while Lindsey stepped back outside. Richard soothed Nadia while Diane sat down beside Stevie and patted her shoulder.

"How do you feel, besides the audio torture next door?," she asked. 

"Bit better. Not as weak or groggy."

"You'll recover quickly, Trust me."

Stevie's eyes bulged. Babe was over with and now Go Your Own Way was playing.

"That's it, torture Fleetwood Mac with their own songs," Ken said dryly.

"How long do they do this of a night?" Colbie asked Ken.

"Past the time we go to sleep. I usually fall into a deep sleep before the music ends," Ken said. "So I have no idea when it really ends."

Stevie groaned. She groaned again when PACKING UP, SHACKING UP IS ALL YOU WANNA DO pounded her eardrums. 

"Play Gold Dust Woman next," Richard said aloud as he stared at the window, "I'm sure everyone would love to hear Stevie's screams and moans at four in the morning!"

"Or Second Hand News with Lindsey's bamp bamp bamp part," Ken added. 

"Or," Richard said, "If they have Tango in the Night, play that song so we can hear Lindsey bellow TANGOOOOOOOOOO! That'll wake us up!"

Stevie chuckled at that. And Richard grinned and shrugged.

"I figure if they're gonna torture us, they might as well go all out," he said to her.

Just then, Lindsey entered the room.

"Okay, I called the cops on these people. Hopefully it won't take them two hours to get here. In the meantime, lets go down to the living room. The sound should be more muffled there."

Everyone nodded. Lindsey wrapprd the blanket around Stevie, gathered her into his arms and went downstairs with everyone else.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty Five

After moving them downstairs, Ken laid Colbie on the big sofa while Lindsey laid Stevie on the loveseat. The music was still loud but the sound was a bit more muffled and Stevie's headache was bearable now. Nadia was here too but she was sitting near the TV playing with Renfield who was only too happy to oblige her. As for the rest of the family, the majority of them were sitting in chairs, except for Ken, Diane and Morgan who were sitting on the floor next to Colbie. Lindsey was on the floor next to Stevie with Richard, Frank and Mick. Everyone was chatting quietly and the lights had been dimmed. Stevie guessed both things were in deference to their overactive senses. She was grateful for that since in addition to the headache, he eyes were hurting from time to time because her eyes were trying to adjust. Despite all that, she was glad she no longer needed glasses or contacts now. 

She lay on the loveseat, listening to the various conversations. Then they heard the music suddenly cut off and she grinned when everyone cheered. 

"Thank you!" Lindsey said. "Sweet silence!"

"Hurray, I can think again," Colbie said. 

"Okay, now that it's quiet, I'm gonna yell!" Mick said. 

"You do and we'll make you go live with the wankers next door," John said to him. 

Stevie's eyes flicked over towards Karen when she got up, walked over and sat down on the floor next to her. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better. Lots better now that the music's off," Stevie said. 

"I think I'm gonna leave tomorrow night. I better go back before everyone thinks I've been kidnapped too. I just don't know how I'm gonna handle your disappearance..."

"Just pretend you don't know. I mean, no one ever found out what happened to them," Stevie said, gesturing to her friends.

"Yes, we are urban legends now, guys," Lindsey said. 

"Too bad Unsolved Mysteries isn't on anymore," Richard said. "They could devote an entire episode just to us."

"The Case of the Missing Mac," Felicia said. 

"And now I'm adding to that urban legend," Stevie said. 

"And my family too," Ken added. 

"And me," Frank said. "What? Y'all are better than me now?" Frank said when everyone looked at him. "Me and Ben, you know, we disappeared too."

"Yes. But somehow I don't think they'll remember the random British soldier/turncoat/spy who disappeared on a spy mission one night hundreds of years ago," Benjamin said. "Especially since I'm sure many people went missing back then."

"If you're leaving, we'll be sorry to see you go," Frank said to Karen. "Y'all are welcome here anytime you want."

"Thank you. I like it here but I have a feeling I'm gonna have a lot to deal with when I get back to the mortal world."

"Just don't touch Stevie's bank account in any way or let anyone else touch it because we're gonna fix it so Stevie can get her money converted into credits," Lindsey said. 

"And thanks to things being cheaper in the vampire world, you're gonna be even richer than you are now," Ken said.

"Whooo!" Stevie said. 

"And we'll do the same for you guys," Ken said to his family. "If you're gonna live in the vampire world, you might as well have the money to live in style."

"And we have a hacker friend who can make sure that any royalties Stevie and Colbie get will go to their bank accounts too," Lindsey said.

"Seriously?" Colbie said, leaning her head up. "You can do that?"

"Yes. I get my residuals," Lindsey said. 

"And no one can trace it?" Colbie said.

"Not the way our friend does it," Lindsey said. "He's good enough that he can make it untraceable."

"Cool! I can be set for life then," Colbie said. 

Stevie lay on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. She had a thought and looked at Lindsey.

"How do you guys know when to go to sleep?" she said to him.

"Internal clock. We just start getting very, very sleepy. Also we go by the clock. Usually, we start getting sleepy around 5 am or so. You seem more awake though, you must be feeling better."

"I am. I'm not so woozy. And my head isn't hurting anymore from that stereo."

"Yeah, I don't have a headache either," Lindsey said, nodding. "It hurt me and I've had this enhanced body for thirty years. But it does get better, you will get used to that."

"To the point that if you are wearing a suppressor like I was, you definitely notice the change in your body," Richard said. 

"What about you, Mick?" Karen said. "Are you still visiting your family?"

"Yes. Now that we have all this sorted out, I want to still do that," Mick said. 

"Do you need us to go with you?" Stevie said.

"Just John. I don't want to overwhelm them. Although, I'm hoping that it goes as well as it did with Ken's family."

"Well, we were scared at him at first until we calmed down and listened," Diane said. 

"That and she got a look at my gorgeous body again and was entranced," Ken said with fake haughtiness. "After all, I am the total package. Ripped body, pale creamy skin, gleaming white fangs, who wouldn't wanna be me?"

Frank looked at his friends, got up and walked over to Diane.

"Ma'am," he said, sitting down next to her. "I'm older but I'm younger looking than he is. Plus, I kicked ass with a musket so y'all want a real man, pick me!"

"No, you want me, not him," Ken said. 

"Actually," Benjamin said, walking over to Diane, "I must admit a certain fondness..."

"Don't even think it, Ben!" Ken said while his friends laughed. "Or you!" he added, pointing to Richard when he walked over to his friend. 

"I'm not interested in Diane," Richard said. 

He levitated off the ground, positioned himself so he was lying flat in the air with his stomach pointing down and floated over to Colbie. 

"Now this little gal is a different story," he said as he gazed down at Colbie. 

"God, I can't believe Richard is dating my daughter. That alone should have prompted me to stay hidden for all of eternity."

"Y'all can't have her, I'm taking her," Frank said, scooting over beside Colbie's head and looking up at his friend.

"No, we're a couple now so you definitely can't have her."

"Bull. You've had plenty of girls in your time. I've barely had any," Frank said.

"And whose fault is that, Mister I've Been Around Since The 1840's?," Richard said. "You've been alive about one hundred and ten years more than I have so why haven't you had any?"

"I have had some but I haven't found someone I like yet."

"There's Stevie over there," Richard said, pointing to her. 

"No way, I'd rather deal with you than with Lindsey," Frank said.

"Ha!" Lindsey said while Stevie giggled. 

"Wait, I'm as big a badass as Lindsey is!" Richard said. 

He paused a moment.

"Why has everyone gone silent?" he said, looking around in confusion.

Stevie chuckled while Richard made a big show of looking around and scratching his head. As she watched her friends clown around, she suddenly felt sleepy. She thought for a moment and decided that the loveseat was comfortable enough before she closed her eyes and relaxed and slowly drifted into a deep, deep sleep.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter Fifty Six

When Stevie finally woke, it was late in the day. She was in her bed but this time Lindsey was beside her. He had positioned so she was on her side facing him, just like Diane when she lay with her husband. Stevie smiled at Lindsey and stroked his face. 

“My mate,” she murmured as she gazed at his pale face. 

She wondered if there was a formal ceremony you had to go through in order to be someone’s mate in the vampire world or if just saying you were someone’s mate was enough. It didn’t matter to her, she decided, because either way Lindsey was her lover for eternity. 

She wondered what time it was as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The sun hadn’t set yet, judging from the light coming through the slit in the drapes off to her right. She looked across to the other bed and noticed it was empty and the bed was made. She got up, turned to check on Lindsey and after making sure he was still sleeping soundly, she went out of the room and made her way downstairs.   
As she went downstairs, she smiled when she heard Richard’s voice. She had no idea what time it was but she figured she shouldn’t be surprised that he was up. She then heard Karen’s voice along with the sizzle of something frying. Her sensitive nose picked up the smell of frying hamburgers and her stomach growled as she pictured eating one. 

She stood on the landing for a moment once she reached the bottom of the stairs and made sure that Richard and Karen were in the kitchen before she headed towards it. As she neared the kitchen doorway, Renfield appeared and ran towards her, his tail wagging a greeting. Stevie scooped him up and held him close while Renfield licked whatever body parts his tongue could reach. 

“Good…afternood, I guess,” Stevie said, coming into the kitchen. 

“Ah, there you are,” Richard said, turning from the stove to greet her. 

She looked over. Karen and Nadia were sitting at the kitchen table. Both of them waved to her. 

“How are you feeling?” Karen asked. 

“Much better,” Stevie said. “My senses still feel a bit screwed up but I feel stronger and not dizzy or weak in any way.”

“Good. I’m glad,” Karen said. “We’re having hamburgers. Want one?”

“God, yes, they smell so good,” Stevie said, sitting down beside her friend. 

“See, I told ya I’m an expert hamburger maker,” Richard said. 

Stevie glanced at the wall clock and noticed it was nearly four pm. 

“How long have you been up, bro?” she asked Richard.

Richard glanced at the clock.

“Um…a couple of hours. I wasn’t the first though, Karen and Nadia were up early. But that’s because they’re warm blooded.”

“Are you leaving tonight?” Stevie asked Karen. 

“Yeah, I hate to go but I better. Like I said, I need to come up with a good explanation for why I’ve been gone and play the grieving friend to the press.”

“I appreciate you keeping our secret, Karen.”

“Well, I can’t tell the press what really happened. They’d think I was nuts or something if I told them you became a vampire,” Karen said with a shrug. “Besides, after being here, I know you’re in a good place and you’re surrounded by people who love you so I can go back with a clear conscience.”

“Stevie, would you like to go with me tonight when I take her back? I’m just waiting for the sun to go down, of course but perhaps we can swing by your place and check it out. Plus, if you want to get a few things to bring back here, we can.”

“Yes, I’d love that and there are a few things I’d like to get like my purse,” Stevie said. 

“Okay. You should be strong enough to fly tonight,” Richard said. 

“How do I fly?”

“Instinct. Trust me, you’ll know how when you get ready to do it. It’s second nature to you now. And you, my dear,” Richard said to Nadia. “I believe you are getting a special treat tonight from the women here. They want to take you somewhere special while we do this. Sound good?”

Nadia beamed and nodded. 

“Stevie, I’ve been thinking,” Karen said.

“Yes?”

“Do you want anyone else to know the truth? Like Lori or Sharon or Sheryl? People you’re very close to and know you can trust.”

Stevie thought about that. 

“Actually, maybe those three because I know they’re trustworthy. Maybe Tom too. I think Tom would keep his mouth shut. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anyone else that I want privy to this.”  
Karen nodded. Stevie put her hand on Karen’s hand. 

“When they declare me dead, I want you to have the house,” Stevie said. “And everything in it. As thanks for all you’ve done for me.”

“I…thank you, Stevie. I mean, you don’t have to,” Karen said. 

“I know but I want to. And I want to leave you a bit of money from my account. Is there a way they can transfer some money to her bank account?” Stevie said to Richard. “Can your hacker friend do that?”

“I think so. We can ask him but I think he can do that,” Richard said over his shoulder.

“That way, you can be taken care of, at least for awhile. But you’ve been such a good friend and you’ve always been more than an assistant to me and this is my way of saying thanks.”

Richard looked over his shoulder and smiled when Stevie and Karen hugged. He chuckled when Nadia got up and went to them with arms outstretched. 

“Oh, you want hugs too, do you?” Stevie said. 

Both women hugged Nadia tight and kissed her cheeks. While Richard fried the hamburgers, Nadia stayed near Stevie and Stevie rubbed her back while she chatted with Karen.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter Fifty Six

When Stevie finally woke, it was late in the day. She was in her bed but this time Lindsey was beside her. He had positioned so she was on her side facing him, just like Diane when she lay with her husband. Stevie smiled at Lindsey and stroked his face. 

“My mate,” she murmured as she gazed at his pale face. 

She wondered if there was a formal ceremony you had to go through in order to be someone’s mate in the vampire world or if just saying you were someone’s mate was enough. It didn’t matter to her, she decided, because either way Lindsey was her lover for eternity. 

She wondered what time it was as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The sun hadn’t set yet, judging from the light coming through the slit in the drapes off to her right. She looked across to the other bed and noticed it was empty and the bed was made. She got up, turned to check on Lindsey and after making sure he was still sleeping soundly, she went out of the room and made her way downstairs.   
As she went downstairs, she smiled when she heard Richard’s voice. She had no idea what time it was but she figured she shouldn’t be surprised that he was up. She then heard Karen’s voice along with the sizzle of something frying. Her sensitive nose picked up the smell of frying hamburgers and her stomach growled as she pictured eating one. 

She stood on the landing for a moment once she reached the bottom of the stairs and made sure that Richard and Karen were in the kitchen before she headed towards it. As she neared the kitchen doorway, Renfield appeared and ran towards her, his tail wagging a greeting. Stevie scooped him up and held him close while Renfield licked whatever body parts his tongue could reach. 

“Good…afternood, I guess,” Stevie said, coming into the kitchen. 

“Ah, there you are,” Richard said, turning from the stove to greet her. 

She looked over. Karen and Nadia were sitting at the kitchen table. Both of them waved to her. 

“How are you feeling?” Karen asked. 

“Much better,” Stevie said. “My senses still feel a bit screwed up but I feel stronger and not dizzy or weak in any way.”

“Good. I’m glad,” Karen said. “We’re having hamburgers. Want one?”

“God, yes, they smell so good,” Stevie said, sitting down beside her friend. 

“See, I told ya I’m an expert hamburger maker,” Richard said. 

Stevie glanced at the wall clock and noticed it was nearly four pm. 

“How long have you been up, bro?” she asked Richard.

Richard glanced at the clock.

“Um…a couple of hours. I wasn’t the first though, Karen and Nadia were up early. But that’s because they’re warm blooded.”

“Are you leaving tonight?” Stevie asked Karen. 

“Yeah, I hate to go but I better. Like I said, I need to come up with a good explanation for why I’ve been gone and play the grieving friend to the press.”

“I appreciate you keeping our secret, Karen.”

“Well, I can’t tell the press what really happened. They’d think I was nuts or something if I told them you became a vampire,” Karen said with a shrug. “Besides, after being here, I know you’re in a good place and you’re surrounded by people who love you so I can go back with a clear conscience.”

“Stevie, would you like to go with me tonight when I take her back? I’m just waiting for the sun to go down, of course but perhaps we can swing by your place and check it out. Plus, if you want to get a few things to bring back here, we can.”

“Yes, I’d love that and there are a few things I’d like to get like my purse,” Stevie said. 

“Okay. You should be strong enough to fly tonight,” Richard said. 

“How do I fly?”

“Instinct. Trust me, you’ll know how when you get ready to do it. It’s second nature to you now. And you, my dear,” Richard said to Nadia. “I believe you are getting a special treat tonight from the women here. They want to take you somewhere special while we do this. Sound good?”

Nadia beamed and nodded. 

“Stevie, I’ve been thinking,” Karen said.

“Yes?”

“Do you want anyone else to know the truth? Like Lori or Sharon or Sheryl? People you’re very close to and know you can trust.”

Stevie thought about that. 

“Actually, maybe those three because I know they’re trustworthy. Maybe Tom too. I think Tom would keep his mouth shut. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anyone else that I want privy to this.”  
Karen nodded. Stevie put her hand on Karen’s hand. 

“When they declare me dead, I want you to have the house,” Stevie said. “And everything in it. As thanks for all you’ve done for me.”

“I…thank you, Stevie. I mean, you don’t have to,” Karen said. 

“I know but I want to. And I want to leave you a bit of money from my account. Is there a way they can transfer some money to her bank account?” Stevie said to Richard. “Can your hacker friend do that?”

“I think so. We can ask him but I think he can do that,” Richard said over his shoulder.

“That way, you can be taken care of, at least for awhile. But you’ve been such a good friend and you’ve always been more than an assistant to me and this is my way of saying thanks.”

Richard looked over his shoulder and smiled when Stevie and Karen hugged. He chuckled when Nadia got up and went to them with arms outstretched. 

“Oh, you want hugs too, do you?” Stevie said. 

Both women hugged Nadia tight and kissed her cheeks. While Richard fried the hamburgers, Nadia stayed near Stevie and Stevie rubbed her back while she chatted with Karen.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter Fifty Seven

After everyone was up, Christine, Felicia, Diane, Morgan and Colbie readied themselves to take Nadia for a night of fun while Stevie got ready to go with Richard to take her friend back home. She was going to miss her but she understood why she had to leave. Still, she was glad she was so accepting of everything that had happened. 

As she stood in the women’s bathroom and touched up her makeup, she smiled when she saw Lindsey in the mirror. He came up behind her and put his arms around her. 

“Why do you put on so much makeup, you’re gorgeous as is,” he said before he leaned his head up and kissed her cheek. 

“Well, I thought I was making myself look beautiful for you but I guess I was wrong,” Stevie said. 

“You’ve always been beautiful to me, even more now that you have pale skin.”

“Oh, you like my lack of blood in my skin?” Stevie teased. 

“Now I do. I mean over the past thirty years I’ve grown to love the vampire physique and you, my darling, look beautiful with pale skin.”

“Are you coming with us tonight,” Stevie asked. 

“Um…I can if you want me to. You and Richard are taking Karen home, right?”

“That and we were going to stop by my house and see if there’s anything worth taking. I know I want to get my purse if someone hasn’t confiscated it by now.”

“Oh I see. You want me there in case you want to take a bazillion things back with you,” Lindsey teased as he tickled her ribcage.

“No, there’s nothing much I want. I don’t want to take too much and arouse suspicion. Besides, Karen will look after what I leave behind.”

She leaned back into him and let him kiss her cheek. 

“Linds, is there some kind of ceremony you have to go through in order to be someone’s mate or do you just say you’re their mate and that’s it.”

“Um…it can be done either way. You can either make it formal or not. Why? Did you want to make it formal?”

“Well, if you want to. I’m happy just being your mate, with or without the formalities.”

“I can do it either way,” Lindsey said. “I figured you’d want a ceremony since you like a lot of pageantry.”

“What do you do?”

“Well, you go get a sort of priest and he does a binding ceremony. Lot of ritualized stuff.”

“Priest? Like the nutcase on that religious program you showed me that one night?”

Lindsey laughed.

“Well, we could use someone like him but you could go to other priests that are less wacky than that.”

“Good because I don’t feel like sacrificing a small animal in order to declare to the world that you’re my mate.”

“Me neither. Unless the small animal is Suzanne.”

“Do you think they’re finished with her yet?” Stevie asked.

“Finished with her?”

“Interrogating her or whatever Nicodemus was gonna do with her.”

“Not sure. But he did want us to come back and see him so we can do that and see what they found. But no matter what, she’s in serious trouble just from kidnapping vampires. That sealed her fate right there.”

Stevie nodded. Lindsey ran his hands up and down her stomach.

“I’m so glad we found you, safe and sound. If that bitch had hurt you, I would have made her execution look ticklish in comparison.”

“I’m sure Ken would say the same,” Stevie said. 

“Yes and that was even stupider. Especially since Colbie had nothing to do with her obsession. But then again, she wasn’t meant to be taken. Her idiot friends just grabbed her. God, how some of these slavehunters manage to function with some of the brainpower they have is beyond me. I think that’s one of the qualifications of being a slavehunter, low IQ.”

“That explains why you aren’t one,” Stevie teased.

“Damn straight. I wouldn’t want to go around in a pack, kidnapping people. I have better things to do…like kiss you,” he said before kissing her cheek. 

Stevie giggled. She finished up while Lindsey kissed her face and neck repeatedly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About a half hour later, Lindsey, Stevie, Richard and Karen were ready to go. Karen wished everyone goodbye and hugged them while they told her to please keep in touch.

“You want to come back, you can. Just give us a ring and we’ll come and get you,” Mick said as he hugged Karen. “You’ve more than proved yourself trustworthy so you’re welcome here anytime.”

“Thank you, I will come back. I want to see Stevie and everyone else,” Karen said. 

She bent down and hugged Nadia.

“And you, I hope you find your family but if not, I’ll see you some other time,” Karen said.

“Don’t go.”

Everyone looked at each other when Nadia spoke. Karen kissed her cheek. 

“Babe, I have to go but I will come back, okay?” Karen said.

Nadia nodded but she was still upset. Karen hugged her tightly before she stood up. Christine came up beside Nadia and put her hand on Nadia’s shoulder while she waved goodbye to her. Stevie walked up, kissed her cheek and told her to be good.

“I’ll see you later on tonight, okay? Have fun on your outing.”

“Okay,” Nadia said.

Stevie hugged her. She tousled her head before she followed Richard, Lindsey and Karen out the door.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter Fifty Nine

Stevie sat in her room, going through her stuff in her purse and tote, arranging it all in her drawers that were now officially hers since this room was now going to be hers and Nadia’s room. Everyone had finished eating and looking at the photo albums so she was putting those away in the bottom drawer of her dresser when Richard stuck his head around the door. 

“Hey, do you need a couple of picture frames for your photos? I have a few I can give to you if you want to put a few pictures on your nightstand.”

“Yes, I’d love that, Richard, thanks.”

“No problemo. Be back in a minute.”

Richard left and returned a few moments later carrying a couple of gold frames. Stevie looked at them and noticed they were similar to the one he had on his nightstand, the one that had a photo of his parents in it. Stevie thanked him but then had a thought.

“That photo you have of your mom and dad? Was that on you the night you were attacked?”

Richard shook his head as he leaned against the doorframe. 

“No, I actually waited till my parents were gone one night and I went into the house. I had the key still and they never changed the locks. I’m guessing they were afraid to in case I came home. Anyway, I knew where mom kept her photo albums and I went through them and found the photo of mom and dad that you saw on my dresser. That’s all I took. I don’t know if mom ever found out there was a photo missing. I never heard her mention it on the nights I checked in on them. She was more concerned about me anyway.”

Stevie hugged him. 

“I wish you’d told them the truth,” she said while she hugged them.

“Yeah, me too,” Richard said, hugging her back, “but I like to think that they can see me from the other side and they know the truth now, including I broke into their house one night and took the photo.”

“What about Ken’s photos and the posters?”

“The posters he got online, I think. Not sure about the photo but he never mentioned going into their house to get, he might have had it on him.”

“Richard, do you think Nadia will be okay in the morning? Now that Karen’s gone, she’ll be the only one awake for awhile.”

“We thought of that. I think Ken is talking to her, kinda letting her know what to expect and what she can and can’t do. Everyone’s also making her some food since no one really wants a five year old cooking and possibly burning the house down. I think she’ll be okay though. I also told Ken to let her know that I’m a light sleeper and if she really needs something, to come and wake me. Also, I came in here to ask you if you want to go with Lindsey and me to that little market I was telling you about. We do need to pick up a few food items, especially since we have a lot more members of our family now and we wanted to pick up a few more food items for Nadia. Would you like to go?”

“I’d love to go.”

She quickly finished what she was doing and followed Richard downstairs. In the living room, Ken was sitting with Nadia and his family. They had the cable TV tuned to the mortal stations and Cartoon Network was on. Ken smiled and waved when he saw Stevie and Richard. Diane, Colbie and Morgan were chatting on the sofa beside him and Nadia was at the other end of the sofa, watching Dexter’s Laboratory quietly. 

“I explained to Nadia about our schedules,” Ken said. “I think she understands that she and the dogs will be the only ones up for awhile but that she could come get you if she needs to. Is Stevie going to the market with you?”

“Yeah, where’s the Lindster?” Richard said.

“I think in the ground floor bathroom, prettifying himself. You know he has to look his best for the market,” Ken said. 

“And for Julie,” Richard said teasingly. “Gotta look pretty for his deli girl.”

“I hope not, considering I’m supposed to be his mate,” Stevie said. 

“Yes, but in the vampire world, you can have more than one mate,” Ken said. 

“Oh yeah? Well, not in my world you don’t,” Stevie said while Ken and Richard snickered. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After getting ready and telling everyone goodbye, Richard, Lindsey and Stevie headed down to the subway platform. During their departure, they found out that Mick had left with John, Frank and Benjamin to try to contact his family. Stevie was worried about that and hoped that Mick would have as much success with reconnecting as Ken had with his family. While they stood and waited for the subway, she thought about Lori, Sharon and Sheryl. Sharon, she knew could keep a secret and so could Sheryl but she wasn’t sure about Lori since she was married to her brother. Somehow, she didn’t think Chris would be pleased with her decision. Plus, they had her niece, Jessica, and she wasn’t sure about her either. And Tom Petty was another one she was thinking of. Tom might be able to keep a secret but she loved this world and found herself being very protective of it. She didn’t want a lot of people knowing about it, especially if someone who wanted to hurt her and her family came after them to learn their whereabouts. 

She was jolted from her thoughts when the subway train pulled in. This time there was a lot of people on the trains since it was night and Stevie felt a bit nervous. She stuck close to her mate and brother, not wanting to get pulled away from them. She could tell the men had the same thought since she noticed they were looking around and keeping their eyes on the people nearby while they boarded the train. But this time, no one grabbed her and Stevie relaxed while the door closed. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The market was near Richard and Ken’s recording studio. It wasn’t very big, unlike a lot of the stores around it. And unlike the stores around it which were built of brick and concrete, the market was wood, painted white with a green roof. It looked like something from the 1950’s. A little painted sign above the door said VIOLET’S MARKET in elegant calligraphy and around the words were painted violet flowers and green vines. The door was painted purple and had a small window in it. Beside the door was a large plate glass window and under that was a long wooden bench. Through the plate glass window, Stevie saw a middle aged man and woman at the front counter. The man was writing something down in a ledger while the woman stood beside him and kept her eyes on the store. She spied Lindsey and Richard through the window and she beamed while she waved to them. She then nudged the man and pointed to them while Richard and Lindsey waved. The man grinned and waved them inside.

“That’s Violet and Tom, the owners,” Richard said to Stevie as they headed inside. 

A little bell tinkled when they opened the door and stepped inside. 

“So there you are,” Violet said to them. “Long time, no see.”

“Sorry about that, Violet, we’ve been busy,” Lindsey said to them while he closed the door. 

“You’re always busy, Lindsey,” Violet said. “You guys are always down at Richard and Ken’s studio making those albums; you need to take a break every once in awhile.”

Stevie was taken aback by this but it was long enough for the men to sense her surprise through their mind links and they grinned at each other.

“Told you that they remember stuff about our personal lives,” Richard said to Stevie before he looked at Violet. “Guys, this is Stevie, the one we’ve told you so much about.”

Tom and Violet beamed at that. 

“She’s been turned,” Tom said to them.

“Yes. I turned her. Her choice,” Lindsey said. 

“How long have you been a vampire?” Violet said to Stevie.

“About a day and a half,” Stevie said. 

“Oh, a newborn. Welcome to our world then,” Violet said.

Stevie smiled and thanked her, liking her and Tom immensely. She stood with her mate and brother, listening to them talking and marveling at how much Violet and Tom did know about their lives. They even asked how Renfield was doing. She could see why everyone liked coming here instead of a big supermarket. 

Finally, Richard and Lindsey excused themselves and they actually began shopping. They took a shopping cart and went through the store. Stevie noticed the layout was the same for a regular store. Shelves for canned food and other supplies, fridges and freezers for cold and frozen items and the meat department and deli and bakery at the back. 

She walked with the men and watched while they shopped. She didn’t recognize any mortal brand names but the men assured them that the vampire brand names were just as good. There was even a refrigerated case where they had the gallon jugs of blood. Richard got a couple of them as well as some cottage cheese and some onion dip before moving on. 

Finally, they reached the back and the meat department. There was a man working there. He looked like he was in his twenties with a crew cut and a chiseled face. He was wearing a white tshirt with a white apron and white paper hat on his head. He brightened when he saw them and waved. Richard introduced him as Brent and introduced Stevie. 

“Pleasure. God knows I’ve heard about you for a long time,” Brent said to Stevie. “What can I get you guys? The usual?”

“Yes, except we need three, two pound ground round for six in total,” Lindsey said to them.

“Having a party?” Brent said as he went to work.

“Actually, we swelled our ranks by several people,” Richard said. “Not only Stevie here but Ken’s family was turned and we rescued a five year old girl from one of the gladiator clubs.”

“Seriously?” Brent said. 

He continued to work while Richard and Lindsey filled him in on what happened with Stevie and Colbie and Suzanne. By the time they were finished, Brent had wrapped the meat in butcher paper, taped it and marked it with the credit price. He shook his head.

“From what you told me before about Suzanne, I knew that idiot was trouble but damn, she crossed the line. I hope she gets what’s coming to her.”

“So do we,” Lindsey said. “But at least I don’t have to worry about her bothering me anymore, at least not her personally.

“Well, she needed to get a clue a long time ago,” Brent said. “Oh crap, more customers. Gotta cut this short. But it was nice to finally meet you, Stevie, and I’m glad you and Colbie are safe.”

“Thanks and it was nice to meet you too, Brent.”

They moved on as a man and a women walked up and Brent turned his attention to them. As they headed for the deli, Richard chuckled when the woman behind the display case waved at them and blew them a kiss. 

“Wondered when you’d stop talking to that knucklehead and come over here to me,” she said to them when they walked up. “How you cuties doing?”

“We’re doing fine, Jules. And we brought along a newbie, both of our family and of the vampire world. This is Stevie. Stevie, this is Julie.”

“No way, you finally got her to turn?” Julie said, looking at her. 

“Well, it took a bit of convincing plus some torture,” Lindsey said. 

“Yeah, we had to throw her on the rack a couple of times and stretch her out,” Richard added. 

Stevie giggled when Julie rolled her eyes.

“Trust me, Stevie. Been working here for nearly twenty years and their jokes never get any better,” she said to her.

As before, she worked while Richard and Lindsey filled her in on what had been going on. They got a pound of sliced turkey meat, a pound of sliced cheddar cheese and a pint each of macaroni and potato salad. As before, Stevie was impressed that Julie remembered little details of Richard and Lindsey’s lives and she knew now that she liked this store just as much as they did. It’d been a long time since she’d been to a store where the staff were this friendly and knew the customers on a first name basis. As before, they talked before more people walked up and Julie was forced to focus on other customers. Richard and Lindsey continued shopping, asking Stevie to get things she might like. Stevie selected a few things that sounded good, choosing them based on what the food item was rather than the brand name. By the time, they got back up to the front; they were chatting with Tom and Violet again while they rang up their food and bagged it. Another thing that shocked Stevie was when Violet asked them if they wanted their magazines. When Richard and Lindsey said yes, she reached down behind the counter and brought up a stack of magazines that was wrapped with string. When Stevie asked what was going on through her mind link to her men, they told her that Violet and Tom knew what magazines everyone liked and made sure to get the next issues and bundle them together for the next time they returned. Again, Stevie was impressed that they even could remember what magazines they preferred and she liked the store even more. 

After they were finished paying for the groceries, they chatted for a few minutes more before they noticed the man and woman coming up to the front. Violet hugged everyone and told Stevie she was welcome to come back anytime. Stevie, loving both the store and the proprietors, answered truthfully that she would definitely come back. Then everyone gathered up the bags and the two jugs of blood before they said goodbye to everyone and left the store.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter Sixty

When they got back home, Stevie asked about Mick and Christine told her they hadn’t come back yet. Stevie glanced at the clock. They’d been gone nearly an hour and a half. Stevie hoped things were going well for them. She helped everyone put the groceries and supplies away before they headed into the living room. Ken was sitting on the couch with his family but Nadia was gone.

“She conked out so we put her to bed,” Ken said when Stevie asked. “I think she’ll be okay staying up by herself tomorrow. And she’ll have Renfield to keep her company plus Richard can wake up if she needs him or gets too scared.”

He shut up when the little warning buzzer came on. As before, everyone who was there went to man the doors and Stevie hopped up and did the same, standing with Colbie and Morgan and Diane at the kitchen door, keeping an eye on the front door while Ken went downstairs to check the elevator with Lindsey. There were a couple of minutes of tense waiting before Ken yelled up that it was Nicodemus. Instantly, everyone relaxed and went into the kitchen while Ken walked through the basement door with Nicodemus behind him. Nicodemus greeted everyone and asked the newborn vampires how they were doing. After that, Lindsey explained about Mick, John, Benjamin and Frank being absent and the reason why. Nicodemus smiled at that.

“I hope that Mick is able to reunite with his family as Ken has,” he said. “I hope I am not disturbing you. I was wanting to fill you in on Suzanne. We have finished the mind probes and we have enough evidence to convict her.”

“Good,” Lindsey said. 

“What will the punishment be?” Richard said. 

“Well, Nefrure and I debated long and hard on that and we decided that we cannot just banish her because I believe that she will not leave you alone, especially now that she has been caught. I believe she would seek revenge. So that leaves incarceration or execution as the main punishments. But even with incarceration, we want to perhaps add flogging to it, something to drive home the punishment since I do not think Suzanne takes the crime all that seriously. “

“That figures,” Christine said, rolling her eyes.

“I know!” Richard said. “Let Christine beat her senseless, that would work better than a flogging!”

“Yeah, I vote for that!” Ken said. 

Christine chuckled when Nicodemus gave her a bemused look.

“They are highly complementary of your skills,” Nicodemus said to Christine. 

“Well, that’s because I’ve bested most of them in play fighting,” she said. 

“What about Tefnut Darshey?” Lindsey asked Nicodemus. 

Nicodemus nodded.

“That is also why I am here. I believe it could be used in this instance, whether or not she is to be put to death or incarcerated. Richard, Christine, Lindsey and Amber are all entitled to it but I am going to go and speak to the Council of Elders to see if Stevie and Colbie can be included, even though they were not immortal at the time.”

“What would that entail?” Stevie said. “I mean, the concept was explained to us but what sort of things could we do to her?”

“Technically, you can do anything as long as it does not kill her,” Nicodemus said. 

“So, punch her or kick her?” Colbie said. 

“Or whip her or scratch her,” Ken said. “Or anything short of killing her like he said. It’s up to you.”

“How about this then?” Stevie said. “Can Lindsey and me have sex in front of her while she’s tied up and helpless?”

Lindsey’s eyes bulged while the other men giggled hysterically. 

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you said that,” Colbie said with a grin. 

“Well, I figure that would be the worst punishment I could give to her,” Stevie said with a shrug.

She grinned when she noticed Nicodemus was trying not to laugh at that but was failing miserably because a big smile kept returning to his face. 

“As I said, Stevie, you can do anything short of killing her,” Nicodemus said when he finally regained his composure. 

“Yes but Stevie, bear in mind we will be in front of a crowd since people come to this. You wanna have sex in front of an arena full of people, I’ll oblige ya,” Lindsey said. “Personally, I think that’d be the perfect punishment for her too, especially if they do execute her. I want to see the bitch squirm before she dies.”

This time Nicodemus had to chuckle. 

“If this is the punishment you decide on, it shall surely be the first time it has ever been done,” he said to them. “But If you do not mind, I would like to meet with Stevie, Colbie, Lindsey, Richard and Christine tomorrow night in private to discuss this further.”

The five of them looked at each other and nodded. 

“One more thing, Nicodemus, before you go,” Richard said. 

He told him about Nadia and the situation facing her. When he finished, Nicodemus nodded. 

“Perhaps if you come by tomorrow before you go to sleep and bring her to me, she can spend the day with me and perhaps I can either get her to speak more about her past or if you do not mind, I can do a quick mind probe of her memories and see what I can learn.”

“Could you?” Lindsey said. “I mean, we do care for her and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we wouldn’t mind her being here but if she does have some family, we want her back with them.”

Everyone nodded at that and Nicodemus smiled.

“Very well, I will look into it if you bring her to me tomorrow. That way you do not have to worry about her being all alone tomorrow while you are all sleeping plus Richard can get some sleep also. You do not need to be on call for this child even if you do not sleep as deeply as the others. Besides, Nefrure and myself could take her on a regular basis and provide some schooling to her as well as a place to play. Like a…what do you call the place you take young people for school and play?”

“Preschool?” Felicia said.

“Yes. Preschool. We could provide that for her while we are searching for any family members if there are any.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lindsey said. “I doubt she’d wanna be alone in the house all day anyway.”

The others agreed and Nicodemus nodded. They decided that Richard could take her to his place before coming back and sleeping. After working out the arrangement and making sure nothing else needed to be said, Nicodemus bid all of them goodnight and took his leave of them as they escorted him down to the elevator.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter Sixty One

Stevie went up to her room and got some fresh clothes, wanting to take a shower. While she opened her drawer, she glanced over at Nadia in the other bed. She was fast asleep, lying on her side and holding the teddy bear she’d given her. Stevie smiled at that. She walked over and gently laid her hand on Nadia’s head, loving the little girl. Even though she wanted the child to find her family, in a way she hoped she’d end up staying with them. She wouldn’t mind raising the little girl. 

She finished getting her clothes together. When she turned around, she smiled when she saw Lindsey at the door. 

“Mick’s back with Sara in tow,” he said to her. 

“Yes! I’m so glad. What about Amy and Lucy and Jenny?”

“Not sure. They just got back but Sara seems a bit overwhelmed like you were. Were you getting a shower?”

“Wanted to, yes. But if Mick is here with Sara, I want to see her first.”

“Hold off on the shower and I’ll take it with you,” Lindsey said. 

Stevie nodded and put her clothes and toiletries on the bed while Lindsey walked over to the head of Nadia’s bed and gazed down at her. He then bent over and gently kissed Nadia’s cheek, taking great pains not to wake her. 

“She’s so cute,” Lindsey said softly to Stevie. 

“Yes, I wouldn’t mind being her parents,” Stevie said softly.

Lindsey smiled and put his arm around her.

“Sorry, I can’t give you a child the natural way,” Lindsey said. “Sometimes, I wish we’d been able to have a child before joining Fleetwood Mac.”

“Then we’d never have found success,” Stevie said, shaking her head.

“No, that’s not true. Other musicians have had kids and a career. I think you and I are smart enough we could have found a way. But we can’t change the past which is why I’m hoping we can keep Nadia too. I think she’d flourish her with us, all of us. Speaking of procreating though, you really want to have sex in front of an arena of people?”

“If it causes that bitch distress, yes,” Stevie said. “I’d rather see her squirm than worry about what other vampires think.”

She paused a moment in thought.

“Christine really that great a fighter?” Stevie said. “Or are you guys just teasing her?”

Lindsey didn’t answer as he thought and then he motioned for her to follow. She turned the bedroom light off, letting Nadia sleep. He walked down to Ken’s room, checked inside it and when he saw no one there, he and Stevie glided downstairs. He found Ken and his family in the living room along with everyone else. Stevie smiled when she saw Sara sitting beside Mick on the loveseat. Her eyes widened when she realized Stevie was a vampire like everyone else.

“Stevie?” she said, standing up. 

“Hey, Sara, don’t be afraid. I’m still the same person I was before. We all are,” Stevie said, feeling odd that she was now the one doing the reassuring unlike before when she was in Sara’s shoes.

“What about the rest of your family, Mick?” Diane said.

“I went to see Sara first,” Mick said, rubbing her back when Sara sat back down. “She was scared so I decided to see to her first before I went to talk to the rest of the family.”

“Mick, I don’t know if Amy and Lucy will be ready to hear this…or Jenny. I mean, this is unbelievable to me. I didn’t even think vampires existed so you….all of you sitting here looking like this, it’s just mind boggling. But after hearing Mick and John and…I’m sorry, I forget your names…” she said, looking at Frank and Benjamin.

When they repeated their names, she nodded and apologized. 

“Anyway, I understand now why you hid and why you were afraid to tell anyone. I’m glad you guys are still the same and you don’t wanna hurt anyone.”

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like,” Lindsey said. “I mean, you’re a friend and we trust you.”

“Thank you, Lindsey,” Sara said. 

“Having said that, I wish to change the subject a bit. Stevie doesn’t believe that Christine can kick our asses so Richard, please demonstrate.”

“Demonstrate what? Getting my ass kicked?” Richard said while Ken snickered. 

“Well, someone’s gotta be the whipping boy,” Lindsey said, shrugging.

“And…what’s wrong with you?” Richard said. 

“I’m not wearing glasses.”

Richard rolled his eyes and shook his head while everyone except Sara giggled. Mick leaned over and explained Richard’s habit of wearing glasses while Richard looked at Ken before he looked at Lindsey.

“Where do you expect this to happen? Here in the living room?” Richard said to Lindsey.

“No, out back,” Lindsey said calmly. 

“Lindsey. Sara just got here, she’s scared and overwhelmed. Don’t you think the last thing she needs to see is a vampire battle, even a fake one?”

“Sara, Stevie was wanting to see Christine in action,” Lindsey said to her. “Christine can kick our asses, she’s the best fighter out of all of us.”

“Then perhaps you’d let me choose my opponent instead of assuming it should be Richard.”

“Thank you, Chris,” Richard said.

“Fine, choose your opponent then,” Lindsey said.

Christine smirked.

“What? Me?” Lindsey said as his family members giggled. 

“You don’t think you can take me?” Christine said. 

“I know I can’t take you which is why I don’t wanna do it. Find someone who has half a chance with you,” Lindsey said. 

Christine looked around the room while Stevie sat down beside Sara and smiled at her, knowing she was confused about what was happening. Finally, Christine looked at Richard and Ken.

“You two. I’ll take you both on, that seems fair.”

Richard and Ken looked at one another. Suddenly, Stevie felt her brother’s mind link cut off and once again there was that weird sensation of not having his mind in hers, although with Lindsey’s mind, it wasn’t as jarring this time. But she could tell that Richard and Ken were communicating telepathically and she guessed they’d cut their mind link off to everyone except themselves. 

After five minutes of silent conversation, they looked at Christine and Stevie felt Richard reestablish contact with her mind. Richard and Ken stood up together and smirked at Christine as they wiggled their fingers at her, inviting her to fight with them. Christine pointed towards the kitchen telling them to go outside before she held her head high and walked out of the room. Mick looked at Sara and told her she didn’t have to go outside if she didn’t feel comfortable seeing this. 

“No, I mean, I know you guys so I know you’re not gonna attack me. I’m kinda curious about this,” Sara said, shaking her head. 

Stevie stood with her friend and the two of them followed everyone outside.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty Two 

Stevie went outside with everyone else. She stayed close to Sara, trying to keep her from flipping out, just in case she was terrified from all this. Everyone gathered around the ramp, except for Richard and Ken who walked over to the shed and stood by it, talking softly to each other. Christine stood near Stevie, calmly watching the competition. 

"What? You're not psyching yourself up?" Stevie teased her. 

"Against those two? P'eh, I don't need any preparation whatsoever," she said. "Really, we need to ask Amber to give you a bit of training so you can defend yourself if you need to." 

"Hey!" Ken yelled to Christine. "What are the parameters of this thing? Are we allowed to do anything we want or are there limits?" 

"Well, I suppose we can't hit each other at full strength or kill each other but I suppose everything else goes," Christine said. 

Ken and Richard shared another glance before going back to conferring. Then both men looked over at Stevie. 

"Sis, come here a moment," Richard said, beckoning to her. 

Stevie frowned before walking over to them. When she reached them, they got her into a huddle and conferred quietly. 

"Now what? They're recruiting Stevie now?" John said to Christine. 

"Maybe. Shows how desperate they must be," Christine said with a grin. 

They broke the huddle and Christine noticed the men were giving Stevie encouragement. Then Stevie suddenly changed into a wolf. Sara gasped while Mick put his arm around her and Lindsey wandered over to Richard and Ken, looking down at Stevie. Stevie was a very light grey color and Lindsey commented that she looked beautiful as a wolf. Meanwhile, Stevie was looking behind her, trying to see her body. 

"Wait, is that Stevie?" Sara said to Mick. 

"Yes, it's one of the things vampires can do," Mick said. 

She watched while Richard and Ken changed into wolves. Her eyes widened when Ken spoke while in wolf form. 

"Okay, Chris, we're ready," he called to her. 

"You mean you're gonna have Stevie do this with you?" Christine said. 

"Yeah, I mean, she's gotta learn how to defend herself sometime," Richard said. "Besides, you'll be so busy trying not to hurt her that Ken and me will be able to annihilate you." 

"P'eh, I think you need to rethink your strategy, mates," Christine said. 

She loosened her body and then turned into wolf form while Richard and Ken flanked Stevie. 

"Wait, why am I fighting with you?" Stevie said, looking at Richard and Ken. 

"Just follow my lead, Sis, I'll train ya," Richard said to her. 

Stevie stopped when Richard and Ken stopped. Christine walked up and stopped about two feet away from them. Christine growled menacingly at them and everyone laughed when Stevie turned around and trotted away. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Richard said, looking over his shoulder at her. 

"I'm out, I surrender," Stevie said, morphing back into her normal self. "I know I can't beat Christine. Have fun." 

"Damn, we're down one and the fight hasn't started yet," Richard said to Ken. 

"That's okay, we can take her," Ken said. 

Richard and Ken snarled back at Christine before the three of them ran into one another and began tussling with each other. While they fought and wrestled, the others watched intently. 

"Money's on Chris," Mick said to John when he walked up beside him. "What about you?" 

"My money's on Chris as well," John said. 

"Sure? Sure you don't wanna bet on this?" 

John looked at him. 

"Sure but my money's on Chris," he said. 

"Yeah but one of us has to bet on the opposition." 

"You do it then, my money's on Chris," John said, shrugging. 

"Hey, Lindsey, wanna bet on Richard and..." 

"Crap!" 

Mick looked over when Richard limped away from the fight, leaving Ken to battle Christine by himself. 

"Hey, Lindsey, wanna bet on Ken," Mick amended himself. 

"No, my money's on Chris too," Lindsey said, walking up beside him with Stevie. 

Sara watched as the two wolves tussled until finally Chris got her mouth around Ken's neck and brought him down to the ground. She then lay on him while she held his head down. 

"Come on, Ken, you can do better than that," Lindsey called out. 

Suddenly, Felicia ran up to Christine, grabbed her around the middle and pulled her away from Ken. 

"I'm the hidden member of the team!" Felicia said, running away with Christine while everyone laughed. 

"Hey, no fair, I had him dead to rights," Christine said to Felicia while Ken stood up and shook his head. 

"Wow, Chris, you have a grip. Sure you weren't a real wolf at some point?" he yelled to Christine while Felicia set her down. 

Both Ken and Christine morphed back and Ken rubbed his aching neck. He walked over to Richard who by now had recovered from his injuries. 

"Do I have teeth marks on my neck?" he asked Richard. 

"No, you have a huge gaping hole though," Richard said, pretending to look. 

Christine walked up to Ken. 

"Get over it, little infant. Suck it up and be a man. Just be glad this wasn't real life or you'd all be dead by now." 

Ken looked at Richard. 

"I would say something sarcastic to that, except I know she's right," he said to his friend. 

They walked back inside with everyone else. On the way inside, Richard nudged his friend. 

"You think this freaked Sara out too much?" he asked him. 

"Not sure. She hung around outside with us. I think she's like Stevie and Diane and the kids. It's scary at first because of all the crap mortals write about what vampires are but once she sees we're not evil, I think she'll come to accept us. But it's like it was with everyone else, she's not running away in terror so I suppose that's a good sign. Besides, her and Stevie are...were best friends so she'll help her out." 

"But we're still taking Nadia to Nicodemus tomorrow, I'm assuming. Should we have Sara go too so she's not here by herself?" Richard said. 

"We can ask Mick. She might like Nicodemus but then again, it might be a bit overwhelming for her after tonight. Then again, seeing us deep in a coma like sleep and seeing Mick that way might be overwhelming too. You know, I'm glad we have new members here but all the same, seeing their reactions made me think that we weren't wrong about not exposing them to this life." 

"Richard nodded. Ken patted him on the shoulder and the two of them went inside.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter Sixty Three 

Stevie walked into the bathroom with Lindsey. Both of them were planning to take their shower now that the mock battle was over with. They'd checked on Nadia and when they noticed she was still sleeping peacefully, they went on into the bathroom. Now they were slowly undressing each other while they kissed passionately. Lindsey broke off long enough to turn the water on and test the temperature before the two of them stepped inside and Lindsey closed the sliding glass door. As the hot water cascaded down their bodies, Lindsey snogged Stevie as he ran his fingers down her wet hair. 

Stevie ran her hands down Lindsey's back, marveling at the way the hot water warmed up his body a bit, making it feel different than usual. She concentrated on kissing him, not even caring about soap or shampoo. Then she felt Lindsey's presence in her mind and she gasped through her nose when he seemed to make her mind tingle. 

Just a little something extra through our blood bond, Angel, he thought to her while he continued to French kiss her. 

Keep going, I like it, Stevie thought back. 

Making love to your mind while I make love to your body coming right up, Lindsey thought. 

And so while they continued to caress and fondle each other, Lindsey continued to tingle Stevie's mind. Once he showed her how to do it, Stevie began to do it back to Lindsey and they ended up spending a lot more time in the shower than they were planning to. By the time, they got around to soaping and shampooing and finishing up, the men were all sitting on the floor outside the bathroom door. Lindsey and Stevie stepped out to see them all grinning at them. 

"Dang, you really commit to takin' a shower," Frank drawled while the rest of the men chuckled. 

"Yeah, we were planning to time you and see how long it really took for you to get done," Ken said. 

"We had it at five hours," Richard said. "We were hoping you'd go for six but you must have gotten bored." 

"Or waterlogged," John said. 

"Is this going to be a new trend?" Benjamin said. "Others would like to shower as well before the sun comes up." 

"So we got a little enthusiastic with one another and no, this isn't going to become a trend," Lindsey said. "Besides, there are two other bathrooms with showers in them." 

"Yeah but we like this shower," Ken said, pointing. 

The men snickered when Lindsey flipped them off and headed towards the stairs with Stevie. The men looked at each other, got up and followed them. 

"What are you doing?" Lindsey said when they all came up behind him and Stevie. 

"Making sure we don't miss anymore of the action," John said as they glided downstairs behind the couple. 

"Yeah. And if I were you, I'd do it quickly in case our neighbors decide to play the Macarena tonight," Richard added. 

They headed into the kitchen where the rest of the women were sitting and chatting with Sara at the kitchen table. Everyone was drinking either soda or milk and Stevie wondered if her friend had seen the gallon jugs of blood yet. She figured this was why no one was drinking any in her presence, at least not yet. She looked down at Renfield who was lying by Colbie's feet chewing one of his rawhide chews. He looked up and wagged his tail when Stevie rubbed his back. She wondered if he wondered where Sulamith had gone or if he knew the truth. She knew that dogs were a lot smarter than people gave them credit for and she liked to think that on the day Sulamith died, her dog probably said her goodbyes to Renfield before she went under the ramp to die. She sat down with the other women after getting a Sprite from the fridge and jumped into the conversation while the men went into the other room to watch TV, drink sodas and talk. So far, Sara seemed to be taking everything in stride, she was even calming down and relaxing now that she realized everyone was acting normally. Stevie figured this was the norm for all mortals who hadn't grown up with vampires and only thought they were the stuff of fairytales before. She figured the only one who wouldn't have that reaction was Nadia. 

 

 

 

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The conversation shifted to telling Amy, Lucy and Jenny about Mick. Sara was wondering how they'd react to all of it. The women were trying to tell her that they'd probably have the same reaction she did, fear and disbelief that would gradually go away once they realized that they weren't going to be harmed and that Mick was the same person he'd been before. The other thing was she was wondering if she should stay with Mick or not or change or not. She loved Mick but she told everyone that she didn't know if she wanted to stay with him for all eternity. Stevie and the others told her that was okay, that it was her choice. She could tell Sara was relieved by that and Stevie suspected she'd been afraid to say that she didn't want to change for fear that all the vampires would be up in arms about it. 

As they talked, Richard entered the room. 

"Hey all, we thought about 'Za Hut again tonight. Anyone up for that?" 

"'Za Hut?" Sara said. 

"Pizza Hut," Stevie said. "They order from there frequently." 

"Oh...yeah, that sounds good." 

Sara stared at Richard and shook her head. 

"Can't get over how you all look the same as I last saw you. I grew old and you stayed young." 

"And white, I'm whiter now," Richard said. 

"Yeah, that too. I mean this is so surreal but at least you aren't all pouncing on me and draining my blood." 

"Nah, we have no interest in that, not when there's pizza," Richard said with a lopsided grin. 

He then looked back behind him and told everyone they were interested in pizza before he walked back into the other room. Stevie listened for a moment and noticed they were listening to something in Ashkaddian. She listened for a moment and realized it was a baseball game. She smiled, knowing that she no longer had to rely on closed captioning to understand the vampire language. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Forty five minutes later, the pizza and fixings came and the women moved away from the table while the men set everything up. Once Stevie got her food, she moved into the other room while some of the women sat back down at an unoccupied section of the table to eat and talk to Sara. The men made room for her on the sofa while Ken was telling them to be sure to save some food for Nadia since it wasn't fair that she wasn't having any. She set down on the sofa between Lindsey and Richard and looked up at the baseball game on the TV screen. 

"Is this the Wolves?" she said. 

"Nah," Richard said, shaking his head. "Detroit and Indianapolis. It's a rerun actually, not a playoff game." 

"Still pretty good though," Lindsey said to her. "Haven't seen this one before. But they usually do this at playoff time, show old reruns in between the new games. Baseball is pretty popular. They even show reruns in the off season from time to time." 

"When they're not showing poker?" Stevie said, glancing over at him. 

"Poker is okay but you haven't lived till you've seen vampire sumo wrestling," Ken said. 

The men all snickered at that when Stevie's eyes widened. 

"And do the vampires get as large as the mortal sumo wrestlers?" she asked. 

"Oh yeah," John said. "Imagine two big, pale 500 pound blobs of flesh battling it out in this tiny arena." 

"The best part is when one of them ends up falling off the little arena directly into the front row," Mick said. "So then you have a 500 pound blob of flesh in your lap." 

"Ugh, count me out of that one," Stevie said. 

She noticed her lover and her brother were sharing a look and grinning. 

"I'm afraid to ask but what are you two grinning about," Stevie said to them. 

"Oh, just that Rich and me went to see a sumo wrestling tournament when the Rumours tour went to Japan," Lindsey said. 

"Really? Where was I?" 

"How should I know? That was at a time when I could have cared less about your whereabouts," Lindsey said while the men snickered. "For all I know, you and Chris were parading down the street in geisha outfits. All I know is me and Rich went to see sumo wrestlers." 

"And...did one fall in your lap?" Stevie said, bemused. 

"No. Because unlike now, I probably wouldn't have recovered from it," Lindsey said. "But I do remember when these two behemoths smacked into each other and it made this sort of loud, flabby sound like two pieces of meat being thrown together, which I suppose is what it was. But the matches only last for a few seconds, sometimes no more than an eye blink. I don't know why the Japanese are so passionate about it but I guess that's a part of their culture and history. But it's even more interesting seeing it in the vampire world; I guess Japanese vampires hold on to their mortal traditions." 

Everyone looked over when Nadia appeared at the doorway leading to the stairs. 

"Hey love, you alright?" Mick said. "Do you want some pizza?" 

Nadia nodded and came into the room. Mick stood up, took her hand and walked with her into the kitchen. Stevie heard him introducing Nadia to Sara and Sara's surprise at their being a mortal child in the house followed by Mick explaining that she'd been upstairs asleep. 

"By the way," Richard said. "Ken and I were wondering if Sara would like to go to see Nicodemus with Nadia in the morning rather than stay here by herself all morning." 

"Do you think she'd be okay there without any of us," John said. "I mean, she knows most of us here, she doesn't know Nicodemus or Nefrure." 

"Yeah but if we explained to her that they wouldn't hurt her," Stevie said. "I mean, I liked them the first time I met them so I'm thinking she might feel the same way? And Nadia would be there, even if Nicodemus and Nefrure went to sleep." 

Mick came back into the room by himself after a few minutes, explaining that Nadia wanted to eat with the women. When he sat back down, John mentioned what Richard had told them. Mick looked at the kitchen door thoughtfully for a few minutes before excusing himself and going back into the other room. Stevie ate her pizza while she heard Mick asking about going to Nicodemus's with Nadia and then explaining who they were while the other women helped by telling her that he and Nefrure were kind people and she had nothing to be afraid of. Then they heard Sara asking Mick if he'd go with her. 

"I could, love, but I do have to go to sleep during the day," Mick said gently. 

"I know but I'd feel better if I could at least see you, at least on the first day," Sara said. 

"That's fine then. I can go to sleep there but only if Richard sleeps with me." 

Stevie and the men giggled while Richard sat down his piece of pizza on the plate and looked at Ken. 

"I need to get paid since my job here is apparently Butt of All Jokes," he said to him while Lindsey patted him on the back.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter Sixty Four 

The next morning just as the sun was coming up, Richard went into Stevie and Nadia's room to wake her up and get her ready to go to Nicodemus's. Mick was also upstairs, waking up Sara who had gone to sleep in his bed. Stevie was inside the room with Lindsey, preparing to go to sleep with him while she watched Richard get Nadia up. As the sky outside began to lighten, people were moving around outside the room, using the bathroom, changing into nightclothes and making preparations. Stevie was planning to change into her nightgown once Nadia and Richard were out of the room but when Nadia was up and Richard was explaining to her where they were going, Nadia walked over to Stevie and took her hand. 

"Come with me?" she said softly. 

Stevie looked at her brother and mate. 

"It's up to you, Stevie," Richard said. "If you think you can stay awake that long. It is hard for newborns to resist going to sleep." 

"If you want me to come with you, Steves. Just in case you do. I can carry you back," Lindsey said. 

Stevie looked down at Nadia who was looking up at her hopefully and she smiled. 

"Okay, I'll try it," Stevie said. "It's not that far anyway." 

"You say that but you're not nodding off yet," Richard said. "Trust me; in the beginning I had trouble with it. I used to try to stay away and kept nodding off in weird places like I had narcolepsy or something. The older you get, the more you can fight it but don't think that just because the clan house is close that you couldn't suddenly conk out before we get there." 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

By the time they were ready to leave with Sara and Mick, Stevie was feeling a bit sleepier than she had when she'd volunteered to go. By now, they'd said their goodbyes to everyone in the house and the house was falling silent as one by one people were falling asleep. Nadia held her hand as everyone went downstairs. When they got to the subway platform, Stevie felt really sleepy. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked at Lindsey who had a concerned look on his face. 

"Babe, you're not gonna make it, are you?" he said to her. 

"No, I don't think so," Stevie said, shaking her head. 

"You wanna go back up?" 

Stevie nodded. Richard leaned over and told Nadia that Stevie needed to sleep and she couldn't go. Nadia nodded and smiled up at her while Stevie murmured an apology and kissed her cheek. Nadia smiled and hugged her. She bid Richard, Sara and Mick goodnight before she and Lindsey turned back around and went back to the elevator. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Stevie slept most of the day, waking up around four in the afternoon again. She looked behind her and smiled when she saw Lindsey fast asleep curled up behind her. She sat up and then leaned back to give him a kiss on the cheek. She checked their bond and noticed he was at peace. Satisfied with that, she got up and went downstairs. 

Just as she suspected, Richard and Renfield were the only ones up. Sara and Nadia were still at Nicodemus's and the house was quiet. Richard brightened when he saw his sister and Renfield ran to greet her. Stevie picked him up and held him while Renfield licked her face. 

"Hey, I was just about to head out and collect the mortal members of the household, want to try again since you have been to sleep?" 

"Sure. How did it go with Sara and Nicodemus?" Stevie said while Richard grabbed some paper and pen and wrote a note. 

 

 

 

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"I think it went well. Nicodemus was surprised since he didn't know about Sara but he was his usual friendly, welcoming self and I think that calmed her and put her at ease. When I left them, Sara was chatting with him so I'm guessing it probably went well, even if Mick did go to sleep. Actually, I'm wondering if he is still asleep but I supposed if he is, we can leave him there and he can come back on his own." 

Stevie nodded. Richard finished writing the note to the household and Stevie put Renfield down and the two of them headed towards the basement door. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

When they entered Nicodemus's chambers, they noticed that Nicodemus and Sara were talking while Nadia was sitting beside the desk looking at a picture book. Nadia smiled when she saw Stevie and she put the book down and ran to her. Richard chuckled when Stevie embraced her tightly and gave her another kiss on the cheek. 

"I see she's taken a liking to you, Sis," Richard said while Nadia held her tightly. 

"I have tried to get some more information from her," Nicodemus said. "She says she does not know of anyone else who could take her. Apparently, her mother and father were only children. I did do a quick mind probe when she laid down for a nap and she is telling the truth. I wanted to be sure in case she said that just because she wanted to be with you instead of going back home." 

"She's a cute kid," Sara said. "Nicodemus was telling me where she'd been and what happened to you and Colbie. God, I'm glad all of you escaped from that place." 

"Me too. And I'm glad they caught Suzanne too," Stevie said. 

"That reminds me. Since you two are here. Do you wish to participate in Suzanne's punishment, whatever it may be." 

"I do," Richard said. "That bitch has been harassing me for years, never mind kidnapping my sister and girlfriend and holding us hostage. I want a bit of payback." 

"Me too. Not that I like being violent but after what she did, plus participating in something that takes people like Nadia and kills them, that's what really makes me mad. If we hadn't done this, Nadia could be dead by now. So yeah, I want some payback too." 

"What do you do for payback?" Sara said. 

"Anything you want as long as you don't kill the person," Richard said. "Personally, I'll probably deck her a few times at full strength and watch her little head snap back. That'll be satisfying to me." 

"Lindsey and I were thinking of having sex in front of her." 

Richard laughed when Sara's eyes bulged. 

"So, you still wish to do that?" Nicodemus said, amused. 

"I think that would torment her more than anything. To know I'm not only a vampire but I'm also having sex with the object of her affection. I don't know if we'd go through with it but it's a possibility." 

"And I believe Ken is going to punch her in the nose as hard as she punched him so she's going to be taking a lot of abuse to the face," Richard said. "Lord knows what Chris would do to her; it'll probably be really brutal. As for Colbie, not sure about her. Personally, Colbie doesn't seem like the kind of person who seeks revenge but I could be wrong about that." 

"She might because of what Suzanne did to her father, I know she was furious about that and she might want to get a bit of revenge for that," Stevie said. 

Nicodemus nodded. 

"I just wanted to see if you were interested. I will speak to the others but you both wish to do it." 

Richard and Stevie nodded. Sara said her goodbyes to Nicodemus and hugged him which made Stevie smile, knowing that Sara had made friends with him. They asked about Mick and when Nicodemus told them he was still asleep, Richard asked him if he would tell Mick they were gone so he could go ahead and head for home. After Nicodemus told him he would, Nicodemus hugged Nadia and everyone left the clan house. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

On the way home, Stevie had a thought and asked Richard about getting the clan tattoo. 

"Sure, I have the permission slip whenever you're ready to use it." 

"Well, I was thinking about that and I was thinking that now that I am a vampire, I should go ahead and do that," Stevie said. 

"Do what?" Sara said. 

Richard showed her his clan tattoo and explained what it was and what they were talking about. Sara was shocked by that. 

"Will I have to do this too?" she said. 

"No. Not unless you join the clan like I did," Stevie said. "Everyone that is a member of this clan gets the tattoo for identification purposes, that's why I need to get it done. And Ken's family members will need to do it too since they're also in the clan but unless you plan on becoming a member, you don't have to. They just think of you as a guest right now." 

The subway stopped and everyone got off and made their way towards the elevator that led up to their house.


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter Sixty Five 

When they got back inside, they noticed the Christine, Felicia and Frank were up. Nadia ran to them and hugged them. 

"Hey, you, did you enjoy your day?" Felicia asked Nadia while she hugged her. 

"Yes," Nadia said. 

Richard told them telepathically through the mind link about Nadia perhaps not having any more family members to go to. 

So we may get her after all, Felicia replied through the link. 

Seems that way, Richard thought back. 

Richard looked over when Ken entered the kitchen with his family. Richard walked over to them and mentioned Stevie wanting to get her clan tattoo. 

"Ooo, I can get my tramp stamp!" Colbie said. 

Richard laughed hysterically when Ken looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"Can I get a unicorn on my shoulder then?" Colbie asked innocently. 

Ken stared at her while Colbie giggled. 

"Hon, you do notice how white your skin is now, yes? Do you think a white unicorn is gonna show up on your lily white skin?" 

"Okay, you do have a point," Colbie said, glancing at her arm. 

"You're old enough to decide, even though I am pretending to put my foot down. Just be sure it's something you can live with. And for God's sake, don't put something like SLUT on your body if you want to have a music career worth a damn." 

"I won't, Daddy," she said, giving him a kiss. 

"Dad?" 

Ken looked at Morgan. 

"Let me guess, you want a dragon from your neck to your ankles that wraps around your body," Ken said. 

Morgan giggled. 

"No, I'm not interested in getting something besides the arm tattoo. I was just wondering if they have colleges in the vampire world." 

"They do and they're free," Ken said. 

"Really? Free tuition for the undead?" Stevie said. 

"Yes. Because the undead are more civilized that the un-undead," Richard said. "Why do you ask? Are you thinking about going to one?" 

"Well, I was thinking about it, yeah. Are the colleges good here?" 

"They're supposed to be," Benjamin said. "I know a couple of people who have gone and have good paying jobs now so I suppose that's a sign of how good they are." 

"Well, I've wanted to try acting since Colb's a singer. I just wondered if they have theater classes." 

"They should," Richard said. "I think they have pretty much the same career paths as the mortal universities do. And there are vampire actors so I'm guessing you could major in theater." 

"You're gonna have everyone in the family be famous eventually, Ken," Frank said. 

"Yeah, well...being a famous producer tends to rub off on others," Ken said with mock pomposity. 

Everyone shut up when they suddenly heard a faint ringtone somewhere in the house. 

"That's not mine," Lindsey said, shaking his head. "I know my ringtone." 

"I think it's mine," Stevie said. "It's in my purse upstairs." 

"Run! Use your super speed!" Felicia said. 

"But don't hit any walls doing it!" John said. "We don't want a Stevie sized hole in our walls." 

Stevie stood up, thought for a second and then zoomed out of the kitchen. 

"I think she's getting the hang of her abilities now," Richard said with admiration. 

"The hell? She disappeared into thin air," Sara said. 

The vampires chuckled and filled her in on a vampire's super speed ability. Meanwhile, Stevie had managed to get to her purse and answer the phone before it died. She looked at the monitor and smiled when she saw it was Karen. 

"Hey, Karen, great to hear from you again," Stevie said as she sat down on her bed. 

"Hey, Stevie, how are things going?" 

"Pretty good. I've fully recovered and I think I'm going to get my clan tattoo, perhaps tonight. Sara is here though. Mick's girlfriend and my friend? He told her but he hasn't told Amy, Lucy or Jenny yet. I think they're still debating on whether or not to tell them." 

"Well, I don't know if you've seen CNN lately but you're still big news. They're still making comparisons to your disappearance and Fleetwood Mac's disappearance and wondering if the same person kidnapped all of you. The media's been around to all our friends but so far, they haven't gotten to me yet." 

"I hope they don't. I don't like to put you in the position of answering questions about me." 

"Eh, wouldn't be the first time and I have answers ready for them if they should ask. But Sharon called me earlier." 

"Oh? What did she say?" 

"She said your purse was stolen. Apparently, she asked to go over there to get it to hold it for you in case you turned up and...it was gone. So she was asking me if I knew this and if I'd taken it. I told her no, I had no clue and I didn't have the purse." 

"Did she notice anything else was missing?" 

"If she didn't, she didn't say so. I think she was mainly concerned with the purse. Why? What else is missing?" 

"Just a few clothing items and some toiletries and a couple of boxes of photo albums. Oh! And a couple of my dolls and a teddy bear for Nadia to have. That's it. So if she ever mentions those missing, you'll have a head's up." 

"Stevie, do you think you should tell her so she won't dig deeper into the whole missing purse thing?" 

Stevie thought that over. 

"I might. I think she can be trusted and you're right, if she knows, she won't alert the police that my purse is gone and have them search the whole house and find the other things missing. If I don't do it tonight, I might do it tomorrow. Is there a way you can invite her over to your house. That way, we can both talk to her." 

"Sure, I can do that. Just let me know when you want to do this." 

"I will. It's not that late right now but I don't know how long the tattoo will take. So it may have to be tomorrow night." 

"Okay, like I said, let me know, I'm not doing anything tonight or tomorrow." 

"Thanks Karen. I'll keep you posted on what's going on here. I better get back downstairs though in case the others want to leave for the tattoo parlor." 

"Okay, have fun getting inked up." 

"Yeah right, I'm only doing this because I have to in order to be a member of the clan. But thank God, the tattoo is small and can be concealed easily. You have a good night, Karen." 

"You too, Stevie, talk to you later." 

Stevie said her goodbyes and ended the call. She gazed at the phone for a moment before putting it in her pocket. Then she stood up and headed back downstairs.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter Sixty Six 

"So is this place far?" Stevie asked as she sat on the subway train with Richard, Lindsey, Sara and Ken and his family. Mick had returned just as they left and he decided to stay home to get something to eat and meet Sara later. Sara understood and kissed him goodbye before leaving with the others. 

They were traveling to the tattoo parlor. Richard was carrying the letters of permission for everyone while Lindsey said he just wanted to see Stevie get a tattoo. Sara was going out of curiosity which made Stevie glad since she could tell she was losing her fear of the vampire world. 

"It's not far, about six stops down from our house," Ken said. "It's the one all of us went to when we got our clan tattoos. The people there are friendly and very professional." 

"So...no Hell's Angels types?" Stevie said. 

"No. But we could find a tattoo parlor like that if that's more to your liking," Richard said. 

"No thanks, I'm good," Stevie said while Richard, Ken and Lindsey snickered. 

"You mean you don't want a big, burly biker named Bubba doing your tattoo?" Lindsey said with mock surprise. 

"No, Lindsey, I'll take a nice, professional looking person over Bubba any day," Stevie said while the man continued to snicker. 

"So, what should we have when we get back to base?" Richard said. "Or should we just go to the Garden Café since we have a newbie with us that's never been." 

"Is that a restaurant?" Sara asked. 

"Yes and a very good one," Stevie said. "They have great food there." 

"Without blood in it, I hope," Sara said. 

"Only if you request no blood," Richard said. "Kidding, just kidding," he said when Sara made a face. "No, they don't put blood in the food. You can get blood in a drinking glass but not in the food." 

"Unless you want spaghetti with a little something special for your sauce," Lindsey said. 

The men laughed when Sara made another face. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

The tattoo parlor was a small, square brick building that was in the midst of several other brick buildings. A huge sign above the door and plate glass window read VINCENT'S TATTOOS. They went inside and looked around. The walls had numerous drawings pinned to them. Near the back was a barber chair and a male vampire was sitting in it getting a tattoo on his neck while a young man with brown hair tied back in a ponytail worked on it. There was a slight humming coming from the needle while the man worked. 

"Is that Vincent?" Stevie asked Lindsey as she pointed to the tattoo artist. 

"Yeah, he's a nice guy," Lindsey said. "At least he was when we were in here. Um...over here though..." 

He led Stevie to the left wall while Sara followed them. Next to some drawings of panthers, snakes and skulls were little tattoos of individual symbols and glyphs. 

"These are the clan tattoos," Lindsey said to them. "These are all the known ones, I believe." 

"And these are the ones you have to have permission to get," Stevie said. 

"Yes," Lindsey said, nodding. 

"There's so many of them," Sara said. "These are all separate...clans?" 

"Yes. There's a lot more than Nicodemus's clan out there and yes, each clan has its own insignia," Lindsey said. 

Ken came up beside Lindsey. 

"I think my daughter is going to get something besides her clan tattoo," he muttered to them. 

"Really? What?" Lindsey said. 

"I don't know. I'm trying to persuade her to get something small and dignified instead of some big ass dragon or something. I can't believe she even wants to get a tattoo besides the one she's required to get." 

"I think you should get one of Scooter on your chest," Lindsey said. 

"Why?" Ken said. 

"In memory of him? Have him humping Richard's leg and say IN MEMORY OF SCOOTER BROWN, THIS IS WHAT HE LOVED TO DO BEST, all around the tattoo." 

"Wasn't just me that dog loved to hump," Richard said from across the room. 

Ken and Lindsey snickered. Richard walked over. 

"Were you aware when you took him in that beagles are known for being horny sex maniacs?" Richard said. 

"No, I wasn't aware of that until he started mounting every dog in sight. Then I sorta got clued in," Ken said while Colbie, Morgan and Diane walked up to them. 

"Where did you buy Scooter, Dad?" Colbie said. 

"I didn't buy him anywhere. Me and my girlfriend at the time, Nina, found him as a stray. He had been abused, I think, but he came right up to Nina and was very friendly so he sorta wormed his way into our hearts. We got him home and he sat his butt down on the carpet and started scooting across it and that's how he got his name, Scooter." 

"Another thing beagles are known to do," Richard said. "They supposedly have extra fluid in their butt regions that make it uncomfortable for them so they scoot along the floor to relieve that." 

"When did you become an expert on beagles?" Ken said. 

"Um...since the time your dog first thought my leg would make a good sex partner. Then I studied up on them," Richard said while Lindsey sniggered. "I wanted to know if it was normal for your dog to use my leg like a stripper's pole. Turns out it is for that breed. So congrats, you found a dog that was as horny as you were." 

"Well, that's why he came over to me," Ken said. "Great minds think alike." 

"Geez," Stevie said, rolling her eyes. 

"And you never liked him all that much," Ken said to Stevie. 

"No. Because he kept going after Ginny and Duster and trying to mount them. Me and Chris weren't too pleased with your dog whoring himself out to our dogs so no, I wasn't too fond of him, sorry." 

"What kind of dog did you have, Stevie?" Morgan asked. 

"Ginny was a poodle and Duster, I believe, was a Pomeranian or at least there was Pomeranian DNA in her. And his dog was bigger than our dogs so it was like doggy stalker in Sausalito or something." 

"Scooter also...um...got a bit loose with the neighborhood dogs. I had to turn the hose on him a few times because he wouldn't disconnect from the object of his affections." 

Colbie and Morgan giggled. 

"Did you know about this, Mom?" Colbie said. 

"About Scooter? Oh yes, I made the acquaintance of Scooter when I started dating your dad but he never tried to hump my leg." 

"That's because he was in love with mine," Richard said. "Apparently when he wasn't out being a doggy gigolo, he was practicing with me." 

"Can I help you guys?" 

They looked around when Vincent spoke to them. He was taking a break and while his client relaxed in the chair, he walked over to them. Richard produced the permission slips from his pocket and pointed to Stevie, Colbie, Diane and Morgan while he explained what he wanted him to do. Vincent looked over the permission slips and nodded. 

"Okay, it'll be maybe a half hour more before I can start on the next person so if you wanna hang out here, I have a lounge area in the back," he said, pointing to a doorway at the back of the shop. 

They thanked him and he went in the back to use the bathroom. Everyone headed towards the lounge except for Colbie who was still studying the different artwork on the walls. She felt someone coming up behind her and she smiled when Ken put his hand on her shoulder. 

"Still have your heart set on this, eh?" he said to her. 

"Yeah but I'll get something small and nice, not some bloody skull or something," she said to him. 

"Good. I'd advise against the bloody skull if I were you." 

"How about a penguin?" 

"Penguin? You mean like Fleetwood Mac?" 

"Yeah, isn't that the logo? Penguin?" 

"Yeah. Usually with a top hat. You want that?" 

"Thinking about it. A little one on my arm. I mean penguins are mostly black so it'd show up on my arm, right?" 

"Yeah, better than a unicorn would." 

"I think I might get that. Because it's a connection to you and your life." 

"Hon, don't get one because of me. Get one because you want one." 

"I know but I love you, Daddy, and I want to remember you whenever I look at it." 

Ken smiled and kissed her cheek. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

After forty five minutes, Vincent came back to the lounge and announced he was ready for someone. Everyone looked at each other before Stevie stood up. 

"Okay, I'll take the plunge," she said. 

"Wow, she's brave," Lindsey said to everyone as he stood up and followed her out. "I never thought she'd be first for a tattoo." 

"Which is why I wanna be first, get it over with," Stevie said. 

Lindsey followed her out to the chair. Stevie sat down in it and Vincent fetched a leather chair with a metal frame for Lindsey. He sat on her right side while Vincent pulled his chair up to her left. He had a small wooden table beside him and on it; Stevie could see the drawing of the Eye of Osiris glyph. Vincent studied it for a moment before he began working on Stevie's arm. Lindsey watched, fascinated, while his lover made little pained expressions but kept silent while Vincent drew the glyph on her arm. 

"I'm glad this thing is small," Stevie said to Lindsey while Vincent worked. "I'd hate to get an enormous one." 

"Eh, you're doing great. You're a tough little chick," Lindsey teased. 

"Well, it isn't as painful as I thought it'd be, that's for sure," Stevie said. "Still, I'll be glad when it's over." 

The tattoo took about an hour and at the end of it, Stevie examined it, listening while Vincent told her how to take care of it over the next few days. Stevie thanked him and got up from the chair. She nodded when Vincent asked her to tell the next one to come in and she walked back to the lounge with Lindsey. 

"Oh my poor pooky bear, you got an owie," Lindsey said, holding her arm as if it were fragile. "Do you need lovin's and kissin's for it?" 

"Not for it but I do need lovin's and kissin's," Stevie said. 

"Gotcha." 

They entered the lounge and everyone admired Stevie's tattoo before Diane left the room with Ken. Stevie and Lindsey settled down on a black leather sofa and talked softly with everyone while a TV mounted on the wall was tuned to a sports channel.


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter Sixty Seven 

After several hours, everyone was finished. Colbie was the last to go and she took the longest because she requested a small penguin tattoo on her right arm. The penguin was wearing a top hat and Colbie asked that Vincent put FM under it. Lindsey, Richard and Ken split the cost and after paying, they went outside. After realizing the time, they decided to go back home and get something to eat there, rather than go out to dinner. While they were walking back to the subway platform, Richard glanced at Colbie's arm and looked at her tattoo. 

"FM? Someone's gonna think you mean the radio frequency," Richard said, pointing to Colbie's tattoo while he studied it. 

"I don't care. I know what it means and you know what it means and that's good enough for me," she said. 

Stevie checked her watch and noticed it was nearly eleven. She decided to text Karen and tell her she would meet Sharon tomorrow night. When they got back to the subway platform, Stevie took the opportunity and pulled out the phone, texting Karen. Lindsey watched with interest as she texted her friend. 

"Look at you, Tech Savvy Woman," Lindsey said to her. "Didn't think you knew how to do that." 

"Karen taught me," Stevie said. "I don't like it as much as I like writing a letter but it's great for short messages." 

"Wait, you're gonna tell Sharon tomorrow night?" Lindsey said, reading her text message. 

Stevie kicked herself mentally. She was going to tell everyone about the phone call but it slipped her mind. She gave everyone a brief explanation of the phone call and what was going on. 

"Why would Sharon want your purse?" Richard said when she finished. 

"To protect it, I think. She didn't want the police getting it and possibly a few of my things end up in their personal possession or on Ebay." 

"Or maybe there's some nudie photos of her in your wallet that she doesn't want the public to..." 

Everyone laughed when Stevie smacked the backside of his head. 

"Or maybe not," Lindsey said, rubbing his head. "Angel, you gotta learn your own strength, geez." 

The subway train pulled in and as before, the men kept a close eye on the women while they boarded. But the train ride was uneventful and once they got home, they showed off their tattoos to the rest of the household. 

"So you really did get an extra tattoo then?" Frank said when Colbie showed everyone her penguin. "I'm surprised your pa let you do that." 

"I let her do it as long as it was something small and tasteful. I didn't think it would do for her to put SLUT MAGGOT or something across her chest. 

Colbie raised her eyebrow while Morgan giggled. 

"Slut maggot?" she said to her dad. 

"Well, I mean, something weird like that. Slut maggot, ass candy, booty dipper. Something odd." 

He grinned when his daughters bent over laughing at that. 

"Maybe Felice should get ass candy on her bum then," Mick said with a grin. 

"Maybe you should get LOVES MY WOODEN BALLS across your forehead, Mick," Felice countered. 

"Hm, maybe. That would surely be a good gimmick for the band," Mick said, pretending to consider that. 

"I like your penguin, I think it's cute," Felicia said to Colbie. 

"Yeah but FM sounds like a radio station," John said. 

"That's what I said," Richard said. "People'll probably think it's an advertisement for Penguin Radio or something like that." 

"Maybe..." Mick said. "If I get, loves my wooden balls across my forehead. Then Chris can get British Bitch across hers and John can get British Bastard and Ben can get British Ben." 

"No thanks, Mick, I think I'll keep my forehead spotless," Christine said. 

"Yes, I rather like my forehead as is without British Ben across it." 

"Same with British Bastard." 

"Richard could get Four Eyed Freak Face," Felicia said. 

Everyone laughed when Richard chased her out of the room while trying to swat at her head. 

In the end, everyone decided to make some meatloaf and mashed potatoes. When Stevie went in the other room, Nadia was sitting on the sofa. Stevie waved when Nadia waved at her and Nadia's eyes widened when Stevie showed her the new tattoo. 

"Pretty," Nadia said, looking up at her. 

"Thank you. I think so too. A lot of us have this on our arms," Stevie said, sitting down beside her. 

She looked down when Renfield came tearing into the room after being out back peeing. Renfield saw her and made a beeline towards her, wagging his little tail like a maniac. Stevie chuckled and reached down to pet him. 

"Pretty doggy," Nadia said. 

"Yup, he's Renfield," Stevie said. 

"Renfield," Nadia repeated softly. 

Richard came into the room, yawning, and smiled and winked at Nadia. 

"So...that's out of the way now, Sis. Now we need to get your credit account set up and get our friend to work his hacker magic," he said, sitting down beside her. "And yes, I've already said hello to you," he added when Renfield jumped up on the sofa beside him and climbed into his lap. "You little bundle of energy. We could hook you up to a generator and you could power the whole city just on your energy alone." 

"Still, better than him humping your leg," Stevie said. 

Richard snorted and Stevie laughed when he nodded emphatically. 

"Yup. After reading up on beagles, not only did I understand the Scootster's behavior better, I decided never to get a beagle of my own. As horny as they are, I'm surprised the world isn't overrun with beagle babies. Anyhow, I believe the meatloaf is in the oven and the potatoes are being cooked and Felice is seeing if we have a gravy mix so din-din shoud be very soon." 

"Good. Because I'm starving. Are you hungry, honey?" 

"Yes," Nadia said. 

"You're gonna have to get to bed sooner than this. We're vampires but you're not. You really shouldn't be up till midnight," Stevie said, stroking her hair. 

"Okay, Mommy," Nadia said. 

Stevie froze and stared at Nadia for a moment before she looked at her brother. Her brother smiled and nodded. 

Told ya, she took a shine to ya, Sis, he thought to her. 

"Yeah but what if we do find relatives for her, Stevie thought back. I mean, won't this make the separation harder if she thinks I'm her mom now? 

Maybe but if Nicodemus couldn't find any close relatives in her memory, chances are there are none, Richard thought back. My guess is her family was originally from the Middle East and if she has relatives, I'm willing to bet they're all there rather than the US. 

That could be right, Stevie thought while she stroked Nadia's hair. She has a Middle Eastern accent. I just hate to think how many other children like her have died in those...gladiator games. 

Richard sighed through his nose. 

Probably hundreds, Sis. Maybe thousands as long as the games have been going. I think the games are hundreds of years old...not to mention there's more than one place like that and they have them in nearly all the major cities. 

Stevie shook her head. 

God, all those innocent children. Makes me sick to my stomach, she thought. 

Richard nodded. Stevie laughed when Renfield put his paws on Richard's chest and started licking his chin. 

"Okay, I'm glad Scooter didn't do this on top of the mounting behavior," Richard said aloud while Stevie and Nadia giggled.


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty Eight 

After they ate, Stevie put Nadia to bed and kissed her goodnight. Her head was still spinning from the little girl calling her mommy. She loved the little girl and she wouldn't mind being her mother. It just floored her how much her life had changed in such a short space of time. Not only was she a vampire now but she could also end up co-parenting a child with a bunch of other vampires. It was such a 180 from the life she'd been leading before but like with everything else, she didn't mind it. She looked forward to this new life. 

While Nadia drifted off to sleep, she paused when she heard Mick, Ken, Frank and John talking out in the hallway. They were down the hallway and she guessed they were outside Ken's room. They were discussing something between themselves and she listened for a moment and realized they were discussing plans to expand the house and make more room. She shut off the bedroom light and stepped outside the room. Mick saw her, smiled and waved. Everyone saw him wave and turned to look at her while she walked up. 

"Just putting Nadia to bed and I overheard you guys talking. You want to make the house bigger?" Stevie said, walking up beside Frank. 

"Perhaps," Frank said. "We do need to make more space for everyone, especially if Sara decides to stay." 

"More room in the attic?" Stevie said. 

"Maybe," Ken said. "We were talking about getting more beds and having them delivered which we'll have to do but we were also talking about making a lower level below the basement. Another living space that the elevator can go to." 

"Dig out a space under the basement?" 

"Yeah. Like Nicodemus's quarters below the clan house. Hire a work crew to dig out a space and then put in walls and make it another bedroom area perhaps. It's just an idea at the moment but we will need some elbow room now." 

"Another thought was to take out the computer room and library downstairs and turn those into bedrooms as well," Mick said. "We can put those things in the attic or maybe make an office area in the alcove upstairs. 

"For instance, my kids need their own beds," Ken said. "Diane can sleep with me. Lindsey can sleep with you and Sara could sleep with Mick if she stays and that clears up some beds but Colbie and Morgan won't want to sleep with one another forever, I know I wouldn't want to. I think perhaps we can convert the two rooms downstairs into bedrooms but also dig out another room below the basement and have another space for people to hang out in, maybe a rec room as well as have more bedroom space if we need it." 

I agree with that," John said. "I won't be that expensive either, not as much as it would be if this was mortal LA so we can afford to put in another room." 

"Maybe we could make a man's pad," Mick said. 

"I thought the attic was the men's pad," Ken said. 

"No, I mean a man's pad with a stripper pole and dance floor and Stevie could entertain us." 

"Guess again, Fleetwood," Stevie said while the men laughed. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Toward the dawn, Stevie and Lindsey got ready for bed while Richard woke up Nadia and got her ready to go to Nicodemus's. 

"You're a great soccer mom, Rich, I just want you to know that," Lindsey said as he lay down on Stevie's bed. 

"Yes, I look forward to taking the child to dance recitals, playdates and Halloween parties," Richard said to him while Nadia yawned and sat up on the side of her bed. "Then again, there will be the moody teenage years and those won't be quite as fun but at least she's past the terrible twos." 

"On the other hand, we could find her a brother or sister in a maternity ward and give the kid to you," Lindsey said. 

"No thanks, you can have the kid you kidnapped," Richard said. "Actually, just keep on kidnapping them and we can have Cheaper By The Dozen here." 

"And you'd be the mom of the cheaper by the dozen kids," Lindsey said while Stevie laughed. "Everyone would call you Momma and you'd dance and sing and act like Mary Poppins." 

Richard looked at Nadia who was smiling at him. 

"They think I'm Mary Poppins," he said to Nadia. 

"Yes," Nadia said. 

"I'm not Mary Poppins," Richard said. 

"Yes," Nadia said. 

"Ken is Mary Poppins," Richard said. 

"Yes," Nadia said. 

"That's your favorite word, isn't it?" 

"Yes,"Nadia said while Stevie giggled. 

Richard patted her on the head and winked at his friends. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Eventually Stevie and Lindsey went to bed and fell asleep. Normally, she didn't dream but she did remember having a dream where she and Lindsey were as old as Nicodemus and Nefrure, looking back on the centuries as an old married couple. Everyone they'd ever known that weren't immortal were long gone but her immortal friends and family were with her and she felt content, knowing they were still together. When she finally woke, she remembered her dream and when she went downstairs intending to tell Richard, she was surprised to find him gone. She glanced at the clock and noticed she'd slept till nearly five thirty which was the latest she'd ever slept. She figured Richard had left to go get Nadia and Sara so she puttered around for a half hour until the others woke up and started coming downstairs. Stevie pulled Christine aside and told her about the dream and asked if she'd ever dreamed. 

"Yeah but mine was less pleasant, I had a sort of PTSD flashback of my attacker early on before Nicodemus helped me get past that." 

"Oh God, that's horrible." 

Christine nodded. Stevie hesitated a moment. Even though the fact that they were all attacked sickened her, a part of her was curious to know what really happened in that alley. The problem was she didn't want to offend or upset her friends by asking too many details. She thought perhaps Lindsey or Richard might be more open to talking about it than Christine. It wasn't that she didn't think Christine would be open to talking about it; it's just that of all the people in the house, she knew Richard and Lindsey the longest. She'd lived with both of them and she was more comfortable around them than the others. In fact, she found it ironic that it was only now that Richard had become her brother since he'd always been like a brother to her since they lived together back in the early 70's. Still, she wondered if even Richard or Lindsey would want to talk about it. 

She gasped when Lindsey suddenly seized her from behind. 

"Hello, my mate, did you wake at eleven thirty?" he said in her ear. 

"No, I've only been up for about a half hour or so. Do you and Richard want to go with me tonight to talk to Sharon?" 

"Not sure. I don't know Sharon as well as you did. She might not take a shine to me. But if you need backup, I'm sure we could go." 

"I wanted to talk to you and Richard too," Stevie said. 

"About what, Angel?" 

"About that night. About the attack. You guys mention it from time to time but I've always been curious about what really went on. But you don't have to tell me," she said quickly when she saw Lindsey's eyes darken. 

"Let me speak to Richard when he gets back, I have an idea but I need his input on it, okay?" 

Stevie nodded and smiled when Lindsey kissed her cheek.


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter Sixty Nine 

When Richard finally returned home with Nadia and Sara, Lindsey pulled him aside and told him what Stevie had said while Stevie asked Sara if she would like to come with them to speak to Sharon. 

"You sure you wanna tell her?" Sara said. 

"I think so. She knows my purse is gone and I want her to know the truth so she won't keep asking about it and getting the police on our tail. Plus, I would like her to know. She's one of my oldest friends and she deserves to know the truth. " 

"But not everyone?" 

"No, I don't trust all my friends well enough to let them know the truth. I love this world and these people and I don't want to endanger them. I'm afraid if the wrong people find out they may start hunting vampires and killing them and trying to annihilate them, maybe even trying to start a war of extermination. The vampires have lived in peace for the most part, at least the people here have and I don't want to ruin that for them, especially since it was never their choice to be vampires in the first place." 

"I wouldn't tell anyone. They'd think I was crazy if I went around telling people Mick was turned into a vampire." 

"Yeah. I think that's their best defense. Even if someone wanted to talk, people would think they were crazy," Stevie said, nodding. "That's probably why the vampire world's lasted as long as it has." 

"Well, I'm glad that everyone here isn't some kind of bloodsucking monster. Was it the same for you, being freaked out?" 

"Oh yeah. I mean, I was in disbelief and scared but then I realized that everyone was the same personality wise and they just were living their lives and I lost my fear of them. And the more I learned about the vampire world, the more I wanted to stay. Except for the parts about enslaving and abusing and killing mortals, I love this world. And I love that I will get to spend eternity with everyone here. But there are some friends that I would like to know the truth so they don't end up like me, spending thirty years wondering what happened to my friends. I'm sure you feel the same way about Mick." 

"Yes. I am glad that he's alive...or alive in the sense he's still here. I do understand why he never told me the truth until now. I would have been scared to approach my friends too. Mick told me a bit about what happened to them, how they were attacked in an alley. God, I can't imagine how terrified that must have been for them." 

"Sis?" 

Stevie looked over when Richard and Lindsey entered the room. 

"Lindsey told me what you said. There is a way to show you what happened rather than just tell you. The only problem is if we show it to you, it may be disturbing and graphic." 

"What is?" Sara asked. 

"The attack. Stevie wants to know more about it," Lindsey said. "We'd be willing to show her what happened but there is a way to literally show it rather than just describe it." 

"Through the mind link?" Stevie said. 

"No. It's more than that," Richard said. "There is this technology that is sorta like virtual reality, only bigger. Most vampires use it for entertainment. But there is a building where you can sorta upload memories into a database and this room will render the memory in 3D and put it all around you so you can walk around someone's memories and observe." 

"Seriously?" Stevie said. 

"Yes," Lindsey said. "Like Richard said, people use it mostly for shits and giggles. They upload silly memories or even fantasies and people can walk around and look at them like you're in the middle of someone's movie. But the fact that you could walk around and see everything means that you'd be able to witness everything close up. The attack was not pretty so you just cautioning you." 

Stevie looked at Sara and thought it over before she nodded. 

"I want to do it that way though. It would be painful but I really want to see what happened." 

"Me too." 

Everyone looked at Sara. 

"You sure?" Richard said. 

"Yeah. I mean, I'd like to know what happened to Mick, to understand what happened. If it's going to be graphic, I'll accept that." 

"If you're sure, of course you can come," Richard said. "However, I'm thinking that perhaps this might be a group effort," he said to Lindsey. "If each one of us uploads our memories, they'd get the whole scene. I mean, I was behind a dumpster beside Christine and if it's only me, that's all the view they're gonna get. All I saw was Chris, I never saw anyone else, so if you're looking to see Mick, you wouldn't get it just from my point of view." 

"Or mine. I think Mick was nearby but I was between Ken and John and this big burly vampire was on top of me so I agree. I think we'll all have to do it so we can have a view of everyone. Which in a way, I'm curious about since I only did see Ken and John. But we'll ask everyone later on tonight, did you still want to talk to Sharon tonight?" 

"Yeah, let me call Karen and see if Sharon is coming to her house, that's where I wanted Sharon to go." 

They nodded and Stevie excused herself to go talk to Sharon. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

By the time Stevie got back to them, Lindsey informed her that they had gone ahead and decided to ask the others about uploading their memories. 

"They agreed to do it. Actually, I think most of them are sorta curious too," Lindsey said. "Even Felice, Frank and Ben want to go and Ken's family too. Seems odd that everyone wants to view this big, traumatic event but maybe it'll help bring closure in a way. But we did warn everyone, it wasn't like watching Ken turn Colbie and Morgan or me turning you. It was not gentle and loving so we just want everyone to be aware of that." 

Stevie nodded. After telling them that Sharon was going to Karen's house, they said goodbye to everyone before leaving. Richard grabbed hold of Sara and Sara held tight to him as they rose up into the sky. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

When they reached Karen's house, Lindsey and Richard went up on the roof momentarily while Stevie and Sara stood at the front door. Stevie rang the doorbell and Karen smiled when she opened and saw them. 

"Hey guys, how you doin'? Things okay over at the other house?" she said to them. 

"Things are going great. Nadia is still with us. Nicodemus scanned her mind and couldn't find any evidence of any family members that she knew besides her parents." 

"So she might end up staying with you?" 

"I think so, yes. At least it seems that way for now," Stevie said. 

"Sharon is in the house. She's in the living room. Where's Richard and Lindsey." 

"Yo!" 

Karen jerked her head up when she heard Richard and saw him and Lindsey leaning over the edge of the roof, waving at her. 

"You guys might as well come inside too. I mean, Stevie doesn't exactly look normal anymore." 

Richard and Lindsey glanced at each other before stepping off the roof and gliding down. Karen stepped back and everyone entered together. Just as they did, Sharon came into the entryway, trying to see who was at the door. Everyone froze and Sharon's eyes bulged when she saw Richard, Lindsey and Stevie. 

"Hi, Sharon," Lindsey said. 

Sharon's mouth dropped open while Karen walked over to her. 

"Sharon, um...there's another reason why I called and asked you to come over here. We need to talk." 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

An hour later, Sharon was sitting in the living room with the others, stunned into silence. As they talked, her eyes kept flitting between Richard, Lindsey and Stevie, staring at their cadaverlike skin. When they finally finished their explanations, everyone fell silent. Sharon looked around at everyone for a moment before she rose, walked over to Stevie and laid her hand on Stevie's arm. She flinched when she felt how ice cold it was. 

"Are you alright?" Sharon asked her, bending down to look at her. 

"I'm fine. I know I'm basically dead but I don't feel that. I don't breathe anymore but other than that, I feel like myself. In fact, I feel better than I did since I have a lot of enhanced senses and my body has been enhanced. Plus, I can do things I never could as a mortal. But I don't feel dead. I feel very much alive." 

"And you did this to be with Lindsey?" 

"To be with everyone. Once I saw what their world was like and saw the love and camaraderie between them, I wanted to be a part of it." 

"Are you telling anyone else?" Sharon said. 

"I was thinking about Sheryl and maybe Tom Petty. Other than that, I'm not sure. I'm not even sure about Lori because I really don't want Chris to know and I'm scared about what Jessie might think." 

"Lori wouldn't tell anyone though." 

"I know but I don't think it's fair for her to keep the secret while my brother and niece think I'm dead. That's why I'm reluctant to tell her. But we have mentioned that even if someone wanted to talk they'd have trouble telling anyone since they'd have to tell them we're vampires which sounds completely crazy." 

Sharon snorted and nodded. 

"Yeah, I can definitely agree with that. But I do appreciate you telling me. I was worried half to death about you and at least now I know what happened to everyone else," Sharon said. "What happens now?" 

"Well, I would like to keep in touch with you, secretly of course, but I don't want to lose you as a friend, not after I took the time to tell you." 

"Do you want me to become a vampire?" 

"That's up to you," Stevie said. "Karen didn't want to but Ken's family did. No one's pressuring anyone to change." 

"I don't know. I mean, part of me wants to but part of me isn't sure. But whether or not I do, I do want to still be your friend." 

"Do you want to come back to our house with us and see our life?" Lindsey said. "We do fly but we can carry you while we fly." 

"And they won't drop you, trust me," Sara said. 

"And if you want to come, Karen, I can take you," Stevie said. "I'm strong enough now to carry someone." 

"Actually, yeah, I'd like to see everyone again. I didn't realize until I got home how much I'd miss everyone," Karen said. 

"Sharon, would you like to come?" Stevie said. 

Sharon looked around at everyone and thought for a moment before nodding. 

"You guys won't drink my blood?" she said. 

"Nope," Richard said. "And we need to say that up front it seems. No, we won't drink your blood and we have food and drink besides blood in the house. We do eat and drink other things beside that so we can offer you something that isn't blood when we get there." 

"Are there a lot of vampires there?" Sharon said. 

"Yes. It's getting to be quite a full house," Lindsey said. "And we were talking about building on to our house to accommodate us all. It was full before everyone's family members and lovers started moving in. But no one will hurt you, we're all friendly and we act human even if we are vampires." 

"Okay, I'll go with you guys then." 

Lindsey nodded before everyone stood up and made preparations to leave.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter Seventy 

Sharon was astonished when they landed in front of the Victorian house. 

"This is beautiful," Sharon said, admiring the house. "You were here all this time?" 

"Not here. We've only been here for about two years but we've lived in the LA vicinity all this time," Lindsey said. 

They went inside and Sharon was astonished at the interior. Stevie introduced Sharon to Felicia, Benjamin and Frank while the others welcomed Karen back. They went into the kitchen and Sharon got a Sprite before Stevie took her on the tour. While they walked, Renfield followed behind and Sharon was taken with the dog. When they got to her room, Nadia was on the bed playing with her toys. She smiled when Stevie came inside with Sharon and introduced her. When they left the room, Nadia grabbed her teddy bear and followed them. On the way back down, they saw Ken coming up the stairs. 

"Bit of interesting news," he said to them when he saw them. "Felicia, Ben and Frank are going to upload their memories of their attacks. They told us the stories in the past but we've never seen firsthand what happened so apparently this will be their contribution." 

"I'd love to see that. I mean, you guys told me a bit about what happened but I'd like to know the whole story." 

Ken nodded. 

"I told my family about what we wanted to do. I'm not sure if my family is going to go. I have a feeling they don't want to see what happened." 

"Well, I understand that. I'm sure your family members can imagine what happened well enough without standing there and seeing it." 

"Well, I think they're still debating it. I understand completely. Hell, I'd rather not go through it again let alone watch my wife and daughter's reaction to it." 

"Well, I'm not sure why you want to do this but if you want to see it, we'll oblige you." 

"I think it'll just help me understand more what happened to you. Actually, you should invite Nicodemus to come along with us. Maybe if he sees your attackers, he could identify them." 

Ken thought about that for a moment. 

"He did a probe of our memories and said he didn't recognize anyone but maybe..." 

He excused himself and went back downstairs. As Stevie, Sharon and Nadia went downstairs, Stevie could hear Ken talking to the others and telling them what she'd said about Nicodemus. They went into the kitchen where everyone was gathered around Ken while he was talking. Lindsey grinned at Stevie and walked over to her side. 

"Hey Babe, showing Sharon around and pick up an extra?" he said, tousling Nadia's hair while she giggled. 

"Yes. We went in my room and she was in there playing and she decided to tag along," Stevie said, smiling while Nadia wrapped her arms around Stevie's middle and hugged her. 

Felicia came up to Sharon and began to talk to her. Sharon smiled and followed her to the kitchen table. Frank and Benjamin sat down with them and Sharon chatted with them while Karen sat with them. Stevie leaned back into Lindsey and smiled when Lindsey rubbed her arm while he spoke to Mick. They were discussing whether or not to go talk to Lucy, Amy or Jenny. Stevie looked at Mick. Mick was looking at Sara who was now sitting down at the table with everyone else. 

"What do you think?" Mick said to Lindsey while Stevie listened to them. 

"It's up to you, man, but Sara seems to be taking it well now that she's calmed down. I think all the mortals will have their moment of fear before they calm down and see that we're not going to hurt them and we're not bloodsucking beasts. I'm not sure about Jenny but I think your daughters deserve to know." 

"What about you, mate? What about Jeff?" 

"Hell no, I'd rather my bratty older brother not know of my existence," Lindsey said. "It's the same reason Steves doesn't want to tell Chris. Neither of us gets along with our siblings enough to let them in on the reason we vanished." 

John came up beside Mick. 

"So you are going to tell the rest of your family, mate?" he asked while Ken and his family came up beside John. 

"I think at this point maybe Amy and Lucy; I'll ask their opinion about Jenny. I mean, to be honest..." 

Mick glanced at Sara who was laughing with her new friends. He looked back at everyone. 

"I'm not sure how Sara would feel about Jenny being here," he said. 

Stevie felt someone behind her and looked over her shoulder at Richard who had come up behind her drinking a can of Coke. 

"Mick, it's been years since all that happened between you and Jenny and Sara, I doubt there be any acrimony left," Lindsey said. "But I agree, start with the children first and get their opinion." 

"Yes. Start with the children, get them young!" 

Stevie giggled when she heard Richard saying that in a deep, sinister voice. She looked over her shoulder at him. He winked and smiled at her. 

"I don't think he means brainwash them, Bro," Stevie said to him. 

"How do you know? You don't have a mind link with him, do ya? Do ya? Do ya?" he said, poking her side. 

"Richard, you were definitely the class clown growing up, weren't ya?" Stevie said. 

"Yes. Because being painfully shy and introverted, I found if I could make people laugh I was less likely to get my ass kicked," Richard said. "Besides, making jokes helped lightened the mood many times during those hellish days of recording the albums." 

"Yes, they did," Stevie said, reaching back to pat his cheek. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

After their discussion, Mick decided to try his luck with Lucy and Amy. John, Frank and Benjamin went with him as well as Sara. Everyone wished him luck before he and his friends and lover headed out into the night. Sharon sat with the women and chatted, except for Stevie. She headed up to her room. Once inside, she lay down on the bed and relaxed. 

Someone's being a hermit. 

Stevie smiled when she heard Richard's voice through their link. 

Yeah, I noticed that. Someone is going to bed like a mortal, she heard Lindsey think. Apparently, she's crapping out on us. 

No, she can't do that. We need to have pizza and fun, Richard thought to Lindsey and Stevie. 

Stevie chuckled. 

I'm just thinking about what happened, she thought to them. 

With Sharon, Lindsey thought to her. 

Yeah, it's just amazing how I went from being a vampire to having my friends know about my secret. 

Nothing wrong with that, is there, Richard thought. I mean, at least they aren't worrying and they can help keep your secret. 

I know but I just worry about you guys. I worry that someone might find out the truth and take it seriously and come after all of you. 

Eh, we can take em, Angel. 

Yeah, Sis, we're a lot stronger than even a gang of mortals plus we have the Voice on our side. We could speak a word and hypnotize them all into submission. 

I suppose your right, Stevie thought. 

"Of course we're right." 

Stevie raised her head when Lindsey and Richard appeared at her door. They smiled tenderly at her and came inside. 

"Is this why you're avoiding people?" Lindsey said, putting his hand on her head. 

"Not really. I mean, I was worried about that but I also wanted to think for a moment," Stevie said. 

Richard sat on Nadia's bed while Lindsey sat beside Stevie. 

"What else is on your mind, Babe?" he said to her. 

"The attack. You guys probably think I'm strange for wanting to see it firsthand." 

"Well, yeah, the thought had occurred to us," Richard quipped. "But on the other hand, I don't blame you for being curious. I can understand it. I mean, ever since Felice, Frank and Ben offered to show us how they were turned, I'd been kinda eager to see that too. Even though Felice's will be hard to watch if she shows us the repeated rapes." 

"Oh yeah, God, I forgot about that," Stevie said, making a face. 

"But, she could choose to leave that out. You can edit what goes into the simulation and leave out stuff," Lindsey said. "Personally, I'm betting she'll skip over that. I don't think anyone wants to see that part of her story." 

Stevie nodded. 

"Stevie, you don't have to do this, you know," Richard said. "I mean, even after you requested to do it, you can still back out and no one will think any less of you for it." 

"I know. But at the moment I do want to do it," Stevie said. 

"Well, I think we might do it tomorrow night then," Lindsey said. "Although, if Mick brings Amy and Lucy and maybe Jenny back here, we'd have to explain or maybe leave them with Nicodemus." 

"Or Karen if she doesn't want to see it," Richard said. 

"Yeah. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, we're thinking about maybe spaghetti and meatballs and some garlic bread tonight?" 

"Sounds good. But shouldn't we fear the garlic?" Stevie teased. 

"Yes," Lindsey said. "Because the garlic might give us heartburn and that would be hell on us." 

He smiled and kissed Stevie's cheek when she chuckled at that. She got up and Lindsey and Richard stood up with her. Lindsey kissed her hand and They and Richard walked out of the room and headed back downstairs.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter Seventy One 

On the way to the kitchen, Stevie, Lindsey and Richard noticed everyone else was gathered around the TV set in the living room, watching the vampire news channel. The three of them walked over to the back of the crowd and stood there, wondering what was going on. 

"Big news?" Lindsey asked them. 

"Yeah, some person is turning vampires into mindless killers, at least that's what the newsreaders are claiming," Christine said. 

"You mean like brainwashing?" Richard said. "That's nothing new. People can do that through a mind link." 

"No, it's supposedly more than that," Ken said. "Something about some machine that alters DNA or something like that." 

"And they have proof of this?" Lindsey said. 

"Not really, it's just speculation. They managed to capture one of these altered vampires and he supposedly was with it enough to tell the deathwalkers about a machine," Christine said. "Course he could have been just barking mad by that point." 

"So this is the big news in the vampire world," Richard said to Lindsey. "A machine that may or may not exist. I thought there were bigger things happening than this." 

"Is this normal, this kind of news?" Karen said, looking at them. 

"No, which is why everyone is crowded around the TV," Lindsey said. "Usually it's more mundane and more relavant things than this sci-fi thing." 

Everyone drifted away from the television and went into the kitchen. Karen helped everyone fix a spaghetti and meatball dinner with salad and garlic bread. She also made a comment about how ironic it was that they were eating garlic bread and Lindsey and Richard shared a bemused look before telling her Stevie said the same thing. 

"I guess you guys really are on the same wavelength," Richard said to Karen. 

"Hey, after nearly thirty years of working together, we oughta be," Stevie said. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

It was while they were eating that Mick and his friends and lover returned with his daughters. Everyone was sitting around the living room eating while Renfield circulated the room, throwing hopeful glances to everyone for a bit of food. Everyone waved cheerfully while Amy and Lucy stared at them. 

"As you can see, loves, we are still normal for the most part," Mick said to his daughters. 

"And no, that's not blood for the sauce," John added. 

"Stevie?" Lucy said as she walked over to her. "Mick told us you changed. Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine, hon. Honestly, it took a day to recover from the change but I feel great." 

"Hi, guys," Colbie said when they looked her way. 

"Colbie, you too?" Amy said as she and Lucy walked over to her. 

"Yeah. My whole family did to be with Dad. I did too because I never really knew Dad. He disappeared when I was one so this is my chance to be with him and get to know him. And Stevie's right. You're weak right after the change but I feel normal now and we're eating normal foods so it's not like we have to drink blood all the time. But everyone here is friendly so you have nothing to worry about." 

"Dad came to my house first," Amy said. "I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him but Sara talked to me and calmed me down. Then I called my sister and she nearly lost it too. But after the initial shock, I am glad to see him again even if he does looked like a corpse." 

"Yeah. Me too. And he seems the same person which is nice since Amy's right, he looks like a walking corpse." 

"Thanks, kids," Mick teased while everyone laughed. "But yes, that's technically because I am a walking corpse now. But before we go into that, is there any food left or have you lot hoovered it all up?" 

"No, there's more in there for all of you," Lindsey said, gesturing to the kitchen doorway. 

"Come on, loves, have some spaghetti while we talk," Mick said to his daughters. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

As before, Amy and Lucy were a bit freaked out but like with everyone else, they calmed down and became more relaxed the more time they spent with everyone. They sat on the loveseat with Mick eating and listening to everyone talking about their experiences being vampires. Stevie could tell they were fascinated with it all just like she'd been. Sharon was fascinated too. Her friend sat beside her on the other couch, nibbling on garlic bread while the others talked. 

In the end, they also decided to spend the night which got her friends discussing what to do. They finally decided that some people could sleep on the pillows downstairs and lend their beds to the mortals. Stevie asked Karen if she wanted to stay too and Karen replied that she'd like to if it wasn't much trouble. They decided that most of the men would sleep downstairs so the women could have the beds. They also decided to let Nicodemus know that Nadia could stay home for a day since there would be others there. Ken told them he'd go and tell him since he wanted to tell him about Stevie's idea for the simulation. His family decided to go with them and the four of them left after eating and helping to clean up. 

After assisting in the cleanup, Stevie sat with the remaining women at the kitchen table and chatted with them. She was glad that Felicia was being accepted by her friends since she was a nice person. By now, she was being treated like she was an old friend and she was just as relaxed around her friends as they were around her. 

While they talked, the men wandered in and out, getting sodas or blood while they watched something on TV. While Stevie was listening to Christine, she suddenly got an image in her mind of Lindsey in a green harem girl outfit belly dancing. She was taken aback from this and wondered why her mind had come up with such a bizarre image until she heard her mate chuckling in her mind and she realized Lindsey was projecting the image into her mind through their blood bond. She also knew that since a blood bond couldn't be blocked, he could do this at will and she couldn't stop him. She figured he knew that too which was why he was doing it. 

I'm a slaaaaave for you, she heard Lindsey singing mentally in her mind as the image continued. 

"Hey, Lindsey," she heard Richard saying. "Before you show yourself in drag to Stevie would you mind blocking the rest of us off? I really don't want to see you belly dancing in my mind's eye." 

Stevie snickered at that while Sharon, Amy and Lucy gave everyone confused looks. Seeing that, Stevie explained about the mind links and what was happening. 

"Figures Lindsey would use this mind link thing to show himself belly dancing," Sharon said when she finished her explanation. "Does he do this often?" 

"No, actually this is the first time he..." 

She trailed off when she saw Lindsey belly dancing in her mind's eye again except this time she watched while Richard walked up to him and kicked him in the balls. As Lindsey dropped to the floor in pain, Richard stepped over him and looked at Stevie. 

"There. That's to teach him a lesson about being nauseating," he said to her before he walked away whistling cheerfully. 

"Okay, Richard, that wasn't called for," Lindsey said aloud while Stevie laughed her ass off at the kitchen table.


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter Seventy Two 

Stevie took the little white laundry basket filled with her clothes and Nadia's clothes into her room. Nefrure had taken Nadia shopping again and got her some clothes while Stevie used the ones she had, resolving to go back to the store for another clothes run at some time in the future. While she put the clothes away, she thought about the news report. She thought it odd that someone was running around, changing vampires into bloodthirsty monsters but who would do that and why? While she was ruminating about that, Richard appeared at her door. 

"Wow, you're really fixated on that news report," he said to her. 

Stevie cursed and apologized to Richard for bothering him with it. 

"No worries. We were headed up to the attic anyway to take our bedding downstairs and get some fresh bedding for the women. 

"Bro, do you think there is any truth to that news report?" Stevie said while she continued to put Nadia's clothes away. 

Richard thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. 

"Dunno, Sis. I mean I guess it's possible to invent a machine like the one they were describing but it'd be just as easy to implant a false memory into this guy's mind and make him think a machine did it when a vampire probably fucked with his mind. And if a vampire did do it, I'm thinking it's someone this guy knows which would be a good reason to make him think a machine did it. I mean, that's my thoughts on it." 

"Can they help him? Turn him back to normal?" 

"Depends. Most of the time, false memories are implanted deep within the subconscious and it can be reversed but it's tricky and takes a lot of time and an expert to go in and pull it off. Otherwise, this poor bastard will never recover." 

Stevie nodded. Richard felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over his shoulder at Lindsey. 

"Gonna help us with bedding instead of listening to Stevie's weird thoughts about that news report?" he said. 

"Yes, coming," Richard said. 

"By the way, I agree with Rich. I think the guy's mind was altered to make him think it was some kind of weird machine instead of just some guy screwing up his brain." 

"But if this is a repeated occurrence. Should we be more cautious? Did anyone say how many people this has happened to?" Stevie said. 

"Not sure but we can ask one of the others. But yes, if there is a maniac or maniacs running around kidnapping vampires and doing this, we need to be cautious," Lindsey said. 

"Great," Stevie said. "First Suzanne and now this." 

"Hello all." 

Lindsey and Richard looked at Christine when she came up behind them. 

"Chris," Richard said. "Did that news report happen to mention how many vampires had been made into killers?" 

"Um...I believe five so far. At least they've managed to recover five, who knows if that's all there is," Christine said. "But they are cautioning people to be alert for anything suspicious, if that's what you lot were discussing when I walked up." 

"Yeah, Stevie was thinking about it and Lindsey and me picked up on it through our mind links," Richard said. "She needs to learn how to control that." 

"I would learn if someone would teach me," Stevie said to them. 

"I can teach you and be less annoying than these two," Christine said, coming into the room. "But that's not why I'm here. I was thinking of purchasing a piano when they order more beds. I was wondering if you would be interested in that if I got one." 

"Yes. But...that's the thing, where are the instruments?" 

"At our studio," Richard said. "We've been keeping them there since there wasn't much room for them even before the house filled up. And it was a hassle toting them back and forth each time we needed to record something. What kind of piano we talking about, Chris, and where's it gonna go?" 

"Yeah, it's not a baby grand, is it?" Lindsey said. 

"No, it's a small upright piano and I was thinking the attic or the basement as to where to put it," Christine said. "I know we have limited space which is why I'm not getting anything fancy but I thought it would be nice to have a piano here for entertaining and songwriting. I mean, Stevie will probably want to start writing some songs now." 

"Yes, I'd love to and I would use the upright if you got it, Chris," Stevie said. 

"Guys?" 

Everyone turned to see Ken walking up to the door. 

"I just got back from Nicodemus's. He's coming with us when we do the simulations. He's still pretty sure he didn't recognize any of our attackers but if the image will be in 3D, he wants to take another look. Also, he wants me, Richard, Christine, Amber, Stevie and Colbie to meet him tomorrow night at the clan house. Suzanne and her buddies are going to be facing a tribunal that will judge them and pass sentence and we're allowed to speak to them before that happens. If we go to the simulation tomorrow, we can go there first, do this and get Nicodemus afterwards." 

Richard and Stevie nodded. 

"Anyway, just wanted to tell you guys that. I'll see you guys down in the living room." 

Everyone nodded and Ken turned and headed back downstairs.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy Three 

After arranging everything, everyone stayed up and watched TV. Mick did what the others had done, explained the vampire cable to his daughters and the Ashkaddian language. Eventually, the mortals went to bed and towards the morning, the vampires retired as well. Stevie found herself sleeping until four in the afternoon this time. She went downstairs and noticed Richard was up along with Nadia and the mortals. They were in the living room watching mortal cable while they chatted. They smiled and said hello to Stevie when she came in the room. 

"See, she rises fairly early too," Richard said. "Although not as early as me." 

"Did you sleep well?" Karen said. 

"Yes. How about you guys?" Stevie asked the mortals. 

"I slept well," Amy said. "It's very peaceful here. Although the fact that none of you are breathing is creepy when you can see people sleeping in the beds but can't hear them." 

"Yeah, I had that feeling too when I first came here," Stevie said, nodding. "But I got used to it; especially when I realized that they can't die naturally so unless someone comes along and beheads them, they're not gonna die." 

While they talked, Richard went into the kitchen to prepare a light supper. While he was in there, he told the women that they were planning to do the memory simulation later that night. He came back into the living room and stood by the door. 

"If you guys don't want to go, you're more than welcome to stay here. I figured a few of you would stay behind so we wouldn't have to take Nadia to Nicodemus's house. 

"I don't think I want to," Amy said while Lucy nodded. "I don't think I could bring myself to see what really happened to Dad." 

"Yeah, I'm the same way," Sara said. "Mick gave me the basic story of what happened and that's good enough for me." 

"And I have no desire to see it either," Karen said. "So I'll stay behind. " 

"I'm torn," Sharon said. 

"You want to see it?" Stevie asked her. 

"Part of me does and part of me doesn't. I don't know. I guess I have a weird curiosity about it all. I suppose if I went, I could close my eyes." 

"If you come with us, we are given a remote control that can control the simulation like a movie. If you don't like it, let us know and we can pause it and let you go outside." 

"Okay, then I'll come along," Sharon said. 

"Wow, you're brave," Richard said. 

"Yeah, not really. I'm just curious more than everything else." 

"That's the spirit, watch our torment and keep Stevie company," Richard said, patting her shoulder. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

After everyone had woken up and eaten a basic meal of sandwiches and potato chips, they figured out who was going to go before telling the ones staying behind that the house was theirs and they were welcome to eat if they were hungry and they'd see them when they got back. The mortals staying behind told them goodbye and Nadia ran to Stevie, hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. Stevie returned it and told her to be good before she left with Lindsey. 

They were planning to stop by the clanhouse to pick up Nicodemus but to their surprise, he was waiting for them when they came out of the elevator. 

"Have you been waiting long?" Mick said as everyone walked up to him. 

"Not long, I thought perhaps you would be leaving right about now. Are all of you ready to go?" 

They nodded and he followed them up near the edge of the platform. They made small talk until the subway arrived and they got on. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

The building was huge. It was three stops past the clan house and the concrete building took up an entire city block. Ken explained to everyone that was because the simulation rooms were huge and there were several inside the building. Stevie looked at Lindsey as they walked towards the building. 

"Have you ever done this before?" she asked him. 

"No. But we have friends that have done it. Not Ben, Frank and Felice though," he said, nodding to his friends ahead of him. "Others. They kinda told us what it was like." 

"Are you strapped to a machine or something or do you just project your thoughts into the simulation room?" 

"There's a helmet outside with electrodes attached to it. You put the helmet on and think of the memories you want to upload and the electrodes go into the wall and somehow it takes your memories, uploads them into a database or something and translates it into 3D. 

The building had no windows that Stevie could see and a pair of metal doors in the center of the front of the building. They went inside and there was music playing softly from speakers in the ceiling. There was a middle aged man sitting at a steel desk at the back of the room. He looked up at them and smiled when they walked up to them. Stevie looked around while Mick and John told them what they wanted and paid for it. There were a couple of paintings on the walls but they were all abstract art, just colors and shapes. There were several leather chairs and a few tables across from the desk for people to sit and wait and off to the right was another pair of metal doors. When they were done, they were told to go through the metal doors and they found themselves in a long corridor with more metal doors on either side, although these doors were spaced very far apart. Beside each set of doors was a small computer console along with the helmet Lindsey described. Mick had been given a small sheet of paper that listed the room they were going to be using and it was room five which was at the end of the corridor on the left side. Everyone involved in doing the simulation huddled up while everyone waited behind them. Nicodemus smiled at Stevie and walked over to her. 

"How are you? Have you adjusted to this new life?" he asked her. 

"Yes, for the most part. There are still some things that are eye openers but I love this world." 

Nicodemus nodded and smiled. He looked at Ken's family and asked the same thing. Stevie glanced over and watched while Mick put the helmet on, strapped it under his chin and closed his eyes. She excused herself and walked over to Lindsey while Sharon followed. She stopped by Lindsey who was conferring softly with Ken. Lindsey glanced at her and Sharon and smiled. 

"So, Mick is uploading his memories now?" Stevie said to them. 

"Yes," Lindsey said while Ken nodded in agreement. "Actually, we decided to go first and then Frank, Ben and Felice will do their memories and we're going to start inside the bar and show you the vampires flirting with us. Not only to show you that part of it but because we figured we can pause it then and Nicodemus can see the vampires' faces then. We figured it'd be easier to look at them at that point rather than trying to see their faces during the assault. 

One by one, everyone stepped up and uploaded their memories into the database. Lindsey held back until everyone was done and then he did the same as everyone else. Once everything was ready, Mick opened the metal doors and everyone went inside.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter Seventy Four 

The interior of the room was made of steel and it was shaped like a dome with a domelike ceiling that was perhaps thirty feet high. Near the door was the remote Lindsey described. It was hanging in a leather pouch and Mick took it out and looked it over. 

"So, the bloke at the desk told me how to use this. Supposedly the memories are loaded up and ready to go, I just have to push play," he said to everyone. 

He pushed a button and Stevie's eyes widened when the metal room was instantly replaced by the inside of a bar. In front of her were two tables pushed together and her friends were sitting there, frozen in position. She looked at Lindsey and flinched when she noticed how angry he was. He was looking at Mick across the table, frozen in position as he pointed his right index finger at his face while holding a bottle of beer in his left hand. His mouth was hanging open like he was yelling at Mick. The others were listening to whatever he was saying, except for Richard. Stevie noticed that her brother was at the other end of the tables, sitting beside Ken with a sullen look on his face while he stared at the beer in his hand. Ken was looking towards Lindsey and didn't seem to see how pissed off his friend was. Stevie remembered what Richard had said about how her brother blamed Ken for what happened for him that night and she figured he was silently cursing Ken in his mind at the moment the image was frozen. 

Mick looked around and asked everyone if they were ready to watch. When everyone said yes. When Mick pushed the button again, the image unfroze and instantly Stevie heard her mate yelling at Mick. 

"Mick, I can't go on a fucking tour again," Lindsey said, jabbing his finger in Mick's face. "I am tired, don't you get that? I just got done working on an album and me and Richard did most of the work, not to mention Stevie was barely there and I had to do everything I could to make it sound like she was singing on the songs when she really wasn't. I don't want to go." 

"I understand, mate, but this is your dream, isn't it?" Mick countered. "Didn't you want to be a famous rock star?" 

"Yes but I didn't realize being a famous rock star meant I'd be working myself to death. I didn't realize it meant back to back albums and tours without a sizable break in-between. Not to mention I've had to put up with my ex-girlfriend since 1976. I can't deal with her anymore, especially since she's hooked on that fucking Klonopin." 

"Lovely night, glad I wasn't invited," Sharon said to Stevie while they watched. 

"Well, I was pissed," Lindsey said to them. "Plus, I had about twelve years of pent up anger that was coming out." 

Stevie looked at Ken. His family was grouped around him and he had his arms around Diane while his daughters stayed close to him as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. Stevie looked at Richard's image. He was still staring at his beer and she sensed that her brother was probably debating whether to get up and leave since she figured he wasn't even really listening. As she watched the memory Richard, the real Richard backed up towards her and stopped on her right side. 

"Once again, I can hear your thoughts loud and clear," he said while Lindsey chuckled and nodded. 

"Yes, Sis, I was ready to run and I should have done it. But how was I to know I'd be turned into the living dead that night." 

"Trust me, Rich. If Mick hadn't been up in my face, I would have been staring at my beer that night too." 

The argument continued for a few more minutes and then Richard and the others told everyone to turn around. They did and saw a group of vampires near the entrance to the bar. There were five men and two women but her abductors weren't among them. Mick froze the image and Nicodemus walked over to the vampires and studied their faces. While he did that, Stevie looked back at her friends. At the moment the image was frozen, no one had noticed them yet. Everyone except Richard was focused on Lindsey and Richard was still scowling at his beer. She looked back at the vampires and noticed they had a lustful look in their eyes, a predatory look Stevie felt was unsettling. Even though this was her friend's memories, it was so solid and so real that it gave Stevie an uneasy feeling and a shiver down her spine. She suddenly questioned her sanity about doing this. 

Nicodemus examined the faces and then turning, he shook his head. 

"I do not know them, my friends. I'm sorry." 

"Well, it was worth a try," Lindsey said. "Thanks for coming along anyway." 

"You are welcome and I am interested in seeing what truly happened this night in a three dimensional setting. But if you are ready, you can resume this." 

"Okay," Mick said. 

He pressed the button and the scene began again. Stevie watched the vampires while they nudged one another and chuckled. She wondered how her friends knew what they were doing if they weren't paying attention but when she looked the other way, she now saw Richard had finally noticed them. He was staring at the group of vampires with a confused look on his face. She looked at the vampires and noticed they were all looking at Richard. A couple of the men were winking at him and one of them kissed the air and ran his tongue over his lips. She looked at Richard and grinned when Richard rolled his eyes and deliberately look away from them towards Lindsey while he took a sip of beer. Stevie glanced at the vampires after noticing that Richard was occasionally throwing sideway glances their way. Again, Stevie saw no one else had seen them yet so this part of the memories came from Richard, she surmised. Then he saw her brother's eyes widened and she looked the other way and saw the vampires were now slowly walking towards him. Stevie looked at Richard who was now nudging Ken on the arm. Ken looked at Richard and Richard looked at the vampires. Ken followed his gaze and Stevie saw how shocked he was when he saw the group for the first time. By now, the vampires reached the table and the argument died down as everyone slowly noticed the vampires. Stevie walked off to the right to see what was happening since the vampires were now blocking her view and everyone followed her lead, going left and right to go around the group of vampires. When Stevie got in between the vampires and Richard, she noticed most of them were still staring at him while Richard glared back at them. 

"Excuse me, you lot, but we're having a private meeting here," Mick said to them. 

"Surely, you wouldn't mind us joining you," a male vampire in the center of the group said to them. 

"Yes, we do mind, mate," John said. "This is private business." 

"Yes," one of the women said as she leaned over towards Ken, "but you're all so cute." 

Ken jerked his head away when she tried to stroke his face. Stevie noticed the vampire's eyes flashed fire for a moment before she smiled seductively. 

"Look, we're busy here, so piss off!" Mick said annoyed. 

The lead vampire looked at him and Stevie's spine stiffened when she noticed the look of death he was giving her friend. John sighed and stood up, looking the vampire directly in the face. 

"Did you hear him, mate? FUCK OFF!" John yelled at him. 

By now, everyone in the bar had shut up and was watching them. The vampires looked around before they looked at their prey. Stevie saw the look of death on all their faces and for a moment they stood there, staring at them while her friends stared back, unflinching. Then they turned and walked out of the bar while her friends breathed a sigh of relief.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy Five 

Mick stopped the simulation and looked at everyone. 

"So, I suppose we move on then since the rest of this is us arguing amongst ourselves," he said. 

"Yes. After the flirting, we carried on with the pointless, oh please, Lindsey, come back to the group, pretty, pretty please discussion." 

"And I went back to staring at my beer," Richard said. 

He looked over when Felicia started giggling. 

"You know. You're a cutie, Richard, but the mullet look was so not you," she said, pointing to his image. 

Stevie grinned. In addition to the mullet, Richard had a slightly fuller beard and no glasses. 

"Hey, that was in style back then," Richard said while Felicia snickered. 

"So were mohawks but you never saw me wearing one, did you?" Ken said to Richard. 

"No, but that's because you were square." 

"Excuse me, I was what now?" Ken said while Diane laughed. "Hon, did you ever think of me as "Square"?" 

"No, actually you were a pretty wild guy back then," Diane said. 

"See, I was a pretty wild guy back then," Ken said to Richard. 

"Yeah, yeah, let's move along, shall we?" Richard said, rolling his eyes while Ken snickered. 

Mick fiddled with the buttons on the remote and the scene changed slightly. Now instead of sitting down, everyone was standing up and getting ready to leave. They were frozen for the moment until Mick hit play and then Stevie watched while they slipped their jackets and coats on. Memory Richard shrugged on his jacket and moved slightly away from the table. Memory Ken noticed he was heading towards the door and followed him. 

"Hey, just quit being so upset, alright?" Memory Ken said to Richard. 

"This was a fucking waste of time. I knew he wasn't going to budge, he never does," Memory Richard replied. 

"Oh, I don't, eh?" Real Lindsey said to Real Richard. 

"After working on several albums with you and watching you throw tantrums when you didn't get your way about something....seriously, you have to ask that?" Real Richard said. 

"Rich, I'm sorry," Memory Ken said. "Mick asked me to come and bring you with me. Blame him for being here." 

"That's right, blame me for all of it," Real Mick said while he watched. 

"Interesting how we're hearing this little gripe session now when we were too busy getting ready to leave before," Real Lindsey said to Mick. 

"Yes. Now we can beat Richard up for running his gob without us knowing it," Mick said. 

"Try it and die, Fleetwood," Richard said to him while Mick winked and grinned. 

Everyone finished putting their coats on and they left the bar. Immediately, the bar vanished and now everyone was standing outside the bar. They stood there for a moment before they turned and headed away from the bar towards the alley. Stevie stiffened, knowing this was it and indeed, the moment they passed by the alley, the vampires moved quickly from the shadows, grabbed them, clamped their hands around their mouths and dragged them into the alley. Stevie took Lindsey's hand and he squeezed it as the view changed to the alley. The vampires were dragging their struggling prey and forcing them to the ground. Stevie glanced at Ken and he was holding his family while they watched him being overpowered by a male vampire. One of the female vampires was on Christine and another was helping with Mick. Where she was standing, Lindsey, Ken and John were behind her and in front of her was the dumpster where Christine and Richard were being pulled down on the far side and Mick was being pulled down on the near side. It was a lot quieter than Stevie thought since the vampires still had their hands over her friends' mouths and they were still struggling, even though they were all down on the ground. Then Mick paused it for a moment and Stevie watched while Lindsey, Richard and her friends fanned out and walked around, examining everyone except themselves. Nicodemus stayed where he was along with Benjamin, Frank and Felicia. Sharon stood by Stevie's side while Diane, Morgan and Colbie walked with Ken while he walked over to Richard and Christine. 

"Oh God, this is horrible," Diane said softly to her husband while he held her close. 

"Yeah, I never saw anyone except Lindsey. That butthole blocked my view so I never saw things from this angle. I think that's why everyone's walking around and seeing where everyone is." 

Felicia walked up beside Ken. 

"Oh no, Richard's mullet is getting messed up," she said loudly. 

"Fuck you, Felice," Richard called out while everyone laughed. 

"Just kidding, dear," Felicia said, turning to him. 

Ken looked over when Stevie came up behind him and put her head on his shoulder while she gazed at Richard and Christine. Stevie noticed that Richard seemed to be fighting still but Christine was pinned to the ground, a look of horror on her face while the vampire woman held her hand over her mouth and sneered at her. Richard, on the other hand, had a pissed off look on his face. He had one hand up, reaching for the vampire's face. Stevie stared at the hand. From her perspective, it looked like her brother was trying to scratch him or go for his eyes. The male vampire on top of him was gleeful and looked like he was laughing at him. Then Mick announced that he was resuming the memory and suddenly, she could see Richard was trying to claw the vampire's eyes out. The vampire seized his wrist and with no effort, flung his arm to the ground with such force that Richard grunted in pain. Christine was grunting and moaning through the female vampire's hand while she laughed at her distress. Stevie glanced back at Lindsey. He was struggling a bit but for the most part, he was restrained. Her brother was nearby, watching calmly with the real Lindsey, John and Mick by his side. Sharon was walking over to Stevie, a saddened look on her face. 

"This is horrible," Sharon said to Stevie when she came up beside her. 

By now, Colbie and Morgan had turned and was staring at their father. Stevie looked back at him. He was also fully restrained and Stevie glanced at Ken's daughters before she walked over to Ken's memory self. He had a defiant look in his eyes while he stared up at his attacker but Stevie also saw fear there too and it made her heart ache. She looked at John. He was also restrained but when she looked at Mick, she noticed the vampire on him was having trouble keeping him still. Stevie grinned, figuring that was because Mick was at least a foot taller than his attacker. She gasped when the vampire finally slammed his fist into Mick's face with such force that she heard it across the way. Then as if the fist punch was a signal, the other vampires began to beat on her friends. Colbie and Morgan gasped when the vampire holding down their father punched and slapped him so hard, his head was rolling around like a rag doll. Both women stepped backwards and the real Ken came up to them, drawing them near while they turned and hid their eyes in his chest. Diane was doing the same, except she was behind her husband and pressing her face against his back. Frank and Benjamin surveyed the scene grimly while Felicia shook her head. 

"God, I thought my vampire was brutal," she said, flinching when the female vampire on top of Christine slammed her fist into her face. 

Lindsey came up behind Stevie and put her arms around her from behind while Stevie watched her lover being beaten repeatedly. 

"YOU'RE NOT REFUSING US NOW, ARE YOU!" the male vampire yelled at John before he hit him again. 

"I thought I heard that," Richard said, coming up beside Ken. "Course I was in severe pain at the time and didn't know if that was real or not." 

"Yeah, I heard it loud and clear," Ken said. 

"Me too," Lindsey said. 

Stevie looked back at Memory Mick. He was now still, especially since his vampire had beaten him into submission. Stevie flinched, imagining how much the punches must have hurt, especially since all the vampires were punching them hard. She didn't think they punched them at full strength though because she figured if they had, their faces would have been turned into goo. 

Then...all the vampires plunged their fangs into their victims necks and again Stevie flinched when the practically dove at their necks and bit down like a shark. She heard everyone's muffled scream and Real Lindsey held Stevie close while she stared at Memory Lindsey. She could see the terror and confusion on his face, a look that was echoed on everybody else's face as she looked around. Again, her friends and family began to walk around, looking at their friends and seeing their reactions. Stevie slipped from Lindsey's arms for a moment and Lindsey followed her while she walked over to Richard and Christine. Christine had a horrified look on her face while the female vampire fed on her but her brother still seemed to be giving a bit of a struggle, at least he looked like he was trying to kick his attacker off him. But she could see him growing weaker and she could remember doing the same thing while Lindsey was draining her, except he was being gentle at the time. She glanced around and noticed that everyone was growing quiet and not moving anymore. Her heart ached, knowing this was going on while she was at her home. She remembered being at her house, being upset and cursing at Lindsey, not realizing that he was lying in an alley having his life force drained from him along with everyone else. It made her feel guilty for being so angry at him that night, even though there was no way she could have known this way happening to them. She looked back at Lindsey. He, John and Ken were also perfectly still now. She looked at the real Ken and noticed her was now focused on his family, comforting them while they hid their faces. Stevie's heart ached for them and she walked over to Colbie and Morgan and rubbed their backs while Ken smiled at her. Stevie looked over at Nicodemus. He was standing near Mick, looking at everyone. He was calm but Stevie could see the anguish on his face and she knew he was just as upset as everyone else. 

Then she saw the vampires open their veins and force the blood into everyone's mouths. They stayed long enough to make sure they swallowed before they got up off them and laughing, ran off into the night while her friends, lover and brother were left there, convulsing and dying in agony. Again, she was so glad that no one did this to her. It was almost more than she could bear, seeing all of them dying along in an alley and Lindsey once again, took her from behind and held her close, kissing her cheek while she leaned back into him. She watched with a heavy heart as one by one they all stilled and then the simulation went black around them. 

"We were dead, Stevie. We don't have a memory of changing," Lindsey explained. 

"Oh okay, that makes sense," Stevie said, nodding. 

"That's all we have," Mick said. "Frank, Felice or Ben, you wanna go next and show how you were transformed?" 

"I'll go next. I put in something extra that ties in with you guys," Felicia said.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter Seventy Six 

Everyone waited while Felicia conferred with Mick. Mick was showing her how to work the remote while Felicia listened and nodded. By now, Ken's family had calmed down and they stayed near him while he spoke softly and reassuringly to them. He glanced at Stevie when she walked up to them. 

"Hey guys, you okay?" 

"Yeah, I just couldn't watch Dad being hit like that," Colbie said. 

Morgan and Diane nodded and murmured their agreement. 

"Well, at least you know that it's only a memory," Ken said softly to them. "And it happened quickly, I wasn't tortured like that for days and days." 

"Thank God for that," Diane said. 

"Okay, guys, before I get to my story, I wanted to show you this. After Frank and Ben found everyone, they got some people to bring them to Nicodemus's place and they were put in the medical room. So, Ben and Frank told me about them because they recognized some of them because of me being a huge fan. So I went down to see if I could help and also to make sure it really was Fleetwood Mac. So this is my memory of the first time I saw everyone...except Stevie, of course, although I did think that maybe she'd been killed or kidnapped since she wasn't there. So...Mick told me how to do this, so..." 

She pressed a button and the darkness disappeared and was replaced with the medical ward in Nicodemus's chambers. Everyone was in a bed, unconscious. Felicia was at the front of the room, picking up an IV bag filled with blood. 

"I'm giving blood IVs to them. None of them had any blood and they were weak and they passed up so I ran an IV drip filled with blood to rehydrate them and make them stronger. As you can see, I'd finished with almost everyone and this IV bag in my hand was meant for Richard. So...starting up now." 

"Why is she showing everyone this?" Richard muttered to Lindsey. 

Lindsey shrugged. They watched as the simulation was started and Felicia took the bag in her hands and put in on a nearby cart that contained everything she needed to put in an IV. She wheeled the cart over, glancing at everyone while she went to Richard's bed. While she prepared to insert the IV, Richard slowly woke up. Stevie watched Felicia, her back was to him and she hadn't noticed he was waking up yet. Richard fully woke and stared at Felicia in confusion. Richard looked around at the other beds before looking at Felicia's back again. 

"Who are you?" he said. 

Felicia gasped and turned around. 

"Oh hi, I didn't know you were awake," she said to him. 

"Who are you? Where are we?" 

"My name is Felicia and you're safe. You're in the medical ward of a man called Nicodemus. I'm helping you and your friends get better. Just relax, okay? I'm going to put an IV into you." 

Felicia turned to get the needle and gasped when Richard seized her wrist. Stevie noticed the pained look on Felicia's face. Felicia paused it. 

"For those who don't know, a vampire has super strength. Mullet Boy didn't know he was a vampire so when he grabbed my wrist, he nearly snapped it off my arm." 

"Oh boo hoo, Felicia, you lived, move on with it," Richard said, grinning, as he waved his hand dismissively. 

"I wanted all of you to see that because I'm planning a long overdue lawsuit against Richard for nearly snapping my wrist off." 

"Suing me for that after thirty years?" Richard said while everyone laughed. "Wow, that must be one hell of a case you're bringing against me if it's taken you this long to announce the lawsuit." 

"Yup, you'll never win," Felicia said. "Anyway, just showing that to kid my friend over there. He did calm down enough to let me explain everything though and he never again tried to snap my wrist off my arm. So...moving on," Felicia said, fidding with the remote. 

She grinned again at Richard and Richard rolled his eyes. 

"Oh no, now what? Did I kick you in the butt while sleepwalking?" he said. 

"No, just showing you something else before I get to the point. This is what happened when I was in college." 

The scene switched to a drab dorm room. Linoleum floor, white walls with posters of Donny Osmond, Beatles and the Monkees on them. Two beds with wooden frames and two wooden desks with wooden chairs on opposite sides of the room. In the center of the room on the left side was a large bookcase with books, pens, pencils, notepads and a small stereo on the shelves. There was one window at the back of the room and a small red clay pot with violets inside was sitting on the window sill. In the bed closest to the door was a young Asian woman. She was lying on top of her blanket with her head on the pillow reading Cosmo. When Felicia started up the simulation, she was humming softly to herself while she turned a page. 

Then suddenly, the dorm's door burst open and Felicia ran inside. Her hair was longer than it was now and she was wearing a brown peasant dress with leather sandals. She held a record album pressed against her chest. 

"Miko, guess what?" Felicia said, spinning around to face the woman. 

"What?" Miko said with a heavy Japanese accent. 

"Fleetwood Mac's new album came out today!" she said, thrusting Rumours at her face. 

Miko glanced at the LP before looking up at her. 

"Who is Fleetwood Mac?" she said to her. 

"Fleetwood Mac is the greatest band ever! You need to listen to this with me!" 

"O...kay," Miko said as Felicia rushed to the stereo. 

"I'm surprised you didn't have an orgasm right then and there," Lindsey said to Felicia while the others laughed. 

"No, I had the orgasm in the record store," Felicia said to him. 

"And your...roommate, is it, looks just totally eager to hear Fleetwood Mac's new album," Richard said. 

"Yes, she was my roommate and yes, I know she was less than thrilled. But she was always serious. She never went out and had fun as far as I know. Just stayed in the room when she wasn't at the library studying or in her classes." 

"And you thought playing our album would turn her into a party girl?" Mick said. 

"No, I just thought It was exciting you had a new album and I wanted someone to listen to it with me." 

She laughed when everyone except Nicodemus gave her a dubious look. 

"I'm sorry, Felice, but that day I innocently asked who Stevie was when I saw your poster, poor Ben and me were treated to a long, involved sermon on her so I really don't believe that you played the record for your roommate just because you wanted someone to listen to it with you. You were recruiting, weren't you?" 

"Well...maybe a little," Felicia said sheepishly. 

"That's why Fleetwood Mac sold so many Rumours albums, she kept buying them because she wore them out playing them for everyone," Richard said. 

"Well, if that's the case, thank you for putting money in our pockets," John said. 

"You're welcome and thank you for becoming my friends," Felicia said. "But anyway, getting serious here, I'll show you guys what happened when I was turned. "


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter Seventy Seven 

Felicia switched the scene from a dorm room to a hospital break room. Felicia was sitting at a table with another woman. Felicia was dressed in blue scrubs while her friend was dressed in a white nurse's outfit. 

"This is Jessica, a friend of mine," Felicia said, pointing to the woman. 

Jessica had auburn hair tied up in a bun. She was around the same age as Felicia but a more angular face. She had hazel eyes and was wearing glasses with thin black frames. She also had a slight tan. She was smoking a cigarette while Felicia was talking to her. She hit play and Memory Felicia sighed. 

"God, I hate these long hours sometimes," Felicia was saying to Jessica. 

Jessica smirked. 

"I bet you don't hate the pay that comes with the long hours though," she said to her as she put her cigarette in a metal ashtray in between her and Felicia. 

"True. But I'd take a low paycheck over dealing with a robber with a shotgun wound to the chest." 

"Well, you shouldn't have shot the robber in the chest then, Felice," Mick said. 

Everyone laughed when Felicia flipped him off. 

"How long is your shift tomorrow night?" Jessica asked Memory Felicia. 

"Sixteen hours. Another double," Felicia groaned. "I'm so not ready for it." 

"Wanna trade my job for yours?" Jessica said. 

"No, thanks. I doubt you wanna deal with gunshot wounds." 

"But you could give shots!" 

Felicia rolled her eyes while Jessica giggled. 

"No thanks, not a fan of needles." 

She glanced at the clock and sighed. 

"Well, I'd love to stick around and chat but I'm dead tired and I'm ready to go home." 

"Lucky you, I've got four hours left," Jessica said, rolling her eyes. 

Felicia patted his friend on the shoulder after she got up from her chair. Real Felicia sighed. 

"You okay?" Frank asked. 

"Yeah. She was my best friend and that's the last time I saw her. I doubt she even knew what happened to me." 

Frank put his arm around her and Felicia patted his back while they watched her memory self leave the break room after getting her coat and purse out of a locker in the adjoining room. She walked down a long corridor up to the front where they had the admitting desk and a large waiting room. She paused long enough to say goodbye to a portly, middle aged black lady minding the desk before heading outside into the darkness. As she walked, she reached into her purse for her car keys, heading through a large parking lot towards her car. She walked for about thirty seconds when she suddenly stopped. She pulled her car keys out of her purse at the same time she looked behind her back at the hospital. She looked around behind her with a confused look on her face. 

"At this point, I sensed someone was watching me," Real Felicia said, pointing to her memory self. "But I was an idiot and didn't trust my gut, as shown here," she added when her memory self stopped looking and turned back around, resuming her walk towards the car. 

"To be honest though," Ken said. "Since this was a vampire stalking you, I doubt there was much you could have done to avoid him." 

She reached her car, a dark red, two door mustang and unlocked the driver side door. 

"Nice wheels," Richard said. 

"Thanks. It was a nice car. Drove like a dream," Felicia said looking back at him. 

"I should have uploaded memories of Ken's Audi and how scared shitless me and Lindsey were whenever he drove us somewhere." 

"And yet, you two kept getting inside it," Ken said over his shoulder while Lindsey snickered. 

Felicia paused the simulation. 

"So, at this point, it was just me driving home so I'm going to skip it. I had no idea the vampire was following me anyway." 

"What? You mean you're not gonna show us you sitting in the car yelling out Fleetwood Mac songs at the top of your lungs?" Frank said. 

"Well...there were no Fleetwood Mac songs on that night." 

"And what year was this?" Mick Fleetwood said. 

"Um...1982." 

"Mirage came out that year and you didn't hear one song from that? I find that hard to believe," Mick said. 

Felicia shrugged. 

"Mirage was no Rumours, what can I say?" 

"You hear that, she's dissing our albums," Lindsey said. 

"And Mirage sold how many compared to Rumours?" Felicia said to him. 

"Okay, you do have a point," Lindsey said while his band mates laughed. 

Felicia switched the scene from her car to her bedroom. The bedroom was large with a king sized, white, four poster wooden bed. On one side was a matching nightstand and on the other side was an oak bookcase with books and LPs in it. There was an adjoining bathroom off to the right and to the left were two large windows. Felicia walked to the window on the right and opened it slightly to let in some cool night air. 

"And there was my mistake," Felicia said, pointing to the open window. 

"I disagree, love," Benjamin said. "As powerful as a vampire is, he could have just came through the window like those idiots did with Stevie's doors. Keeping the window closed was not going to stop him." 

Felicia went into the bathroom and began to undress. Stevie laughed when every man in the room except for Nicodemus suddenly ran up to Memory Felicia to get a better view and then they all let out a groan when Memory Felicia suddenly became fuzzy beyond recognition. 

"Yeah, I figured you guys would do that," Felicia said while the women laughed. "I did a bit of blurring so you can't see the goods." 

"You suck, Felice!" Lindsey said, pointing his finger at her before everyone backed up. 

Lindsey put his arm around Stevie when she gave him a playful poke in the ribs. They watched while the blurry Felice undressed herself. She was nearly finished when suddenly the bathroom door was hit with so much ferocity that it was nearly knocked off its hinges. Felicia gasped and spun around when a young, lean vampire came into the bathroom. The vampire was Asian with short hair and bangs that hung down over his forehead. He was dressed in black leather coat and boots with black jeans and a black t-shirt. The vampire chuckled at what Stevie assumed was Felicia's shocked look. 

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" Memory Felicia yelled at him. 

"Wow, Felice, ya'll didn't scream or beg, that's impressive," Frank said, glancing at the real Felicia. 

"I was pissed but what you don't see is I am scared. You just can't see it because I was down to my underwear at that point," Felicia said, momentarily pausing it. 

"Then drop the blurriness and let us see your reaction to the vampire." 

"Yeah, right, in your dreams, John," Felicia said while the men laughed. 

She resumed the simulation. The vampire was now leering at her and they could see Blurred Felicia back up towards her bathtub. 

"I said, leave me alone or I'm calling the police!" Felicia said, her voice quavering. 

Everyone looked at the vampire and they could tell he knew he had the upper hand. He smirked at her and then he opened his mouth and spoke except no sound came out. Felicia paused the simulation. 

"He used the Voice on me and told me to "Shut up and obey," but I muted the Voice here because I didn't know if it would affect Sharon, even though it is a simulation. So I decided to play it safe." 

"What's the...Voice?" Sharon said. 

"Mind control. Instead of the whole look into my eyes thing, vampires control mortal with a tone of voice," Stevie said. "It doesn't affect vampires but since you're mortal, she didn't know if hearing the voice would affect you." 

"Oh okay," Sharon said. "Weird." 

"It is but I didn't want you becoming hypnotized while watching this," Felicia said. "I...also kinda struggled over how to show you what happened to me next." 

"You don't have to show us the rapes, I think we could imagine them well enough," Benjamin said. 

"You were raped?" Sharon said. 

Felicia nodded. 

"After he hypnotized me, he basically tied me to my bed and raped me repeatedly over three days before he finally turned me and left me alone." 

"Oh God and I thought what happened to you guys was bad," Sharon said, looking around at her friends. 

"Not to mention I was completely naked in the bed and seeing as how I didn't want to show myself with only my panties on...I suddenly realized this wasn't the best thing to show in a simulation room." 

"That's understandable," Lindsey said. "I mean, rape is not something to show your friends. Besides, like Ben said, I think we can imagine it well enough without you showing the details." 

"Yeah but when I was stripping down, we're you running over and wanting to see my naked body?" 

"I was at the back, I wanted a better view of the overall scene." 

"Yeah right, Lindsey, sure you did," Stevie teased. 

"Well, for those who don't know...what happened to me after the rapes is basically what happened to them. I was turned into a vampire, untied and left alone. Never saw that bastard again and you don't recognize him either, do you, Nicodemus?" 

"No, my dear, I do not," Nicodemus said, shaking his head. "He may not belong to a clan though." 

"Yeah, I was thinking that too. Just some solitary vampire who saw me and followed me home. But after I changed, I left my house and my life forever because I was scared someone would try to find me since I never reported to work. Oh, I did hear the phone ringing repeatedly downstairs but after three days it stopped. So I just left and hoped for the best. I wandered for a time till I found a friendly vampire who obviously had to convince me he was friend and not going to rape me. After I decided to trust him, he took me to see Nicodemus and that's how I ended up with my clan. But...um...I'm going to stop there so Frank or Ben, wanna go next?" 

Frank and Benjamin looked at each other. 

"I'll go if you want," Frank said. 

"Be my guest," Benjamin said, nodding. 

Felicia turned off her simulation and everyone waited while she explained how the remote worked to both him and Benjamin, who came over when he realized what she was doing.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter Seventy Eight 

After briefing Frank and Benjamin on how to use the remote, Felicia and Benjamin stepped back while Frank worked the remote. 

"Bit of backstory for ya'll," he said, over his shoulder. 

The darkness receded and everyone saw a farm with a white wooden two story house, red barn, chicken coop and large corral with cows. Off to the left was a small stable. 

"So, this is where I grew up," Frank said, pointing to the frozen image. "We did well but like I told most of ya'll, we didn't own slaves even though I grew up in Tennessee. Still, it wasn't a bad life, it was pretty peaceful and there was no pollution and noisy cars and most of the people I knew were decent and nice folks. Oh and people dressed decently without those skinny jeans and...low riders, I think they're called." 

"Yes, low rider jeans," Sharon said. 

Frank nodded. 

"This is just an image I wanted to show right off the bat, just to give you an idea of my farm so I'm going to switch it to the interior of my house on the day we heard that war had been declared." 

He pushed a button and the scene shifted to the inside of Frank's house. There was a wooden floor and a wooden kitchen table with wooden chairs there was a wooden counter and a few wooden cabinets in the kitchen area but not much else. There was window near the cabinets but it had no curtains. At the table was a woman in her thirties. She was dressed in a long calico dress that resembled something from Little House on the Prairie. She was wearing a bonnet on her head and they could see wisps of brown hair poking out from under it. She was sitting at the table, snapping the ends off green beans that were in a large brown basket on the table. At her feet was another basket that Frank explained was for the beans that were finished. 

"This is my ma. She's getting some green beans ready for supper. We did have a garden out back behind the house. Ya'll didn't see it," Frank said. "Um...we lived maybe a half mile away from the nearest town and occasionally, I would ride there to pick up supplies we couldn't make at home, get our mail and see what was going on. That's where I was when I heard war was on. He pushed play and Frank's mother pulled four long green beans out of the basket. She watched her fingers while she snapped off the ends on all four of them before she leaned over and put them in the basket at her feet. Frank looked at everyone. 

"As you can see, I lived in a time before radios and TVs so all you hear is my ma snapping the beans and the birds and chickens outside." 

He paused a moment. 

"And me riding up on the horse," he said when they suddenly heard hooves thudding the ground. 

"So, it was impossible for you to sneak out of the house then," Ken said. 

"Pretty much. Actually, my ma and pa were sound sleepers so I suppose I could have done it at night but then there were the Indians to watch out for so I never did try to sneak out at night. With all the chores, I was tired by the time we went to bed anyway. Also, I know it's odd that you're seeing my ma when I wasn't there but this is usually what my ma looked like when she was working on beans so I'm basing my memory of her on that. Nothing much changed when it came to my ma and pa. They were pretty much set in their ways." 

Frank's Mother paused and listened while the horse hooves stopped. 

"Ma! Ma!" they heard Frank yelling outside. 

"I'm in here, Frank," Frank's Mother called out. 

"Ma! It's happened! It's happened! We're at war!" Frank yelled out. 

He ran inside the house, out of breath. 

"They fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina! Lincoln declared war and I'm gonna go fight!" 

"No, you're not gonna get in the middle of that silly war," Frank's mother said, jabbing her finger at him. "We need you here, son!" 

"Ma, our way of life is being threatened by that bastard, Lincoln. If the Yanks win, we won't have a farm." 

"You don't know that, Frank. I don't want to see you dead!" 

"I ain't gonna die, Ma. Besides, the war'll be over in a few weeks at the most. And ya'll got my brothers and sisters to help. I'm the oldest and I'm gonna make the decision to fight for my state!" 

Frank's mother sighed. 

"There's no stopping you, is there, son?" she said. 

"No, Ma," Frank said, shaking his head. "If you try to stop me, I'll take a horse and ride away." 

"And what will your pa say about this?" 

"Pa would agree with me. He was all for secession!" 

Frank's mother sighed and her shoulders slumped. 

"Frank," she said, walking around the table, "don't do anything that's gonna get ya killed. You keep your head down and your wits about ya, you hear?" 

"I will, Ma," Frank said as his mother put her hands on his shoulders. "I just gotta do this. Like I said, war's gonna end in a few weeks." 

"Famous last words," Lindsey said. 

"I know but I wasn't the only one that thought that," Frank said, looking back at him. "Most of the people I knew figured it wouldn't be much of a fight." 

"Like Gone With The Wind," Sharon said. "They were saying that in the movie too." 

"Yes but unlike that movie, we never had huge garden parties at my house," Frank said, looking back at her. "We were too busy running the farm. We only had fun at Christmas." 

"Oh God," Stevie said when Frank's mother suddenly began weeping as she held Frank tight. "Your poor mother." 

"I know. Looking back on it now, I never should have enlisted. I was young and stupid. Even if I never got turned, I was still young and stupid for being so eager to join a war." 

They watched while Frank tentatively put his arms around his mother but they could tell he was embarrassed and uneasy about her mother crying in his arms. He was trying to calm her and ease her fears but even there, he was awkward and they could tell he wanted his mother to step back and not cry directly on him. In the end though, he stood there and held her until her weeping ebbed down to a few sobs. She then looked at him. 

"When your pa gets back, you tell him before you ride off. Your pa deserves to know too and say goodbye." 

"I will, ma." 

Frank's mother pulled him into her arms and held him close. This time, she wasn't crying so Frank was less awkward about hugging her. 

"I love you and you'll always be my son, no matter how big you get," she said to him. 

"I know, ma. I love you too." 

Frank's mother kissed his cheek and told him to go put the horse in the stable and clean up. Frank nodded before he headed out the door to do what his mother asked him to do.


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy Nine 

Okay, I wanted to show ya'll something else, part of my backstory," Frank said to everyone. My pa did give permission, except he was as reluctant as my ma was. But he recognized that I was old enough to make my own decisions and they told me to keep my head down and not get shot." 

"Which is wise advice, considering," Mick said. 

"Yes. My father was very wise," Frank said while everyone laughed. "So I joined the 12th Tennessee Regiment and we saw some action in and around Tennessee. But the most significant battle I was in was the Battle of Shiloh which for me was hell on Earth. I read later that up to that point it was the bloodiest battle of the war and I completely agree with that. It was terrible and I still get chills thinkin' 'bout it even though it's been over 150 years since it's happened. Anyway, this is one little memory from the battle just to show you what it was like for me. 

He pushed a button on the remote and everyone was suddenly surrounded by forest. Frank was off to their right, hiding behind a large tree with a hunting rifle in his hands while other confederate solders were using trees around him for cover. 

"Oh. I did have a government issued musket but that eventually broke on me and I resorted to using a hunting rifle I brought with me from home and a flintlock pistol I found on a dead Yank. And most of my friends and regiment members did the same thing. As the war went on , supplies became sparse and we ended up having to scavenge them off dead bodies when we could and that included clothes, shoes and food. As you can see, my outfit's a bit tattered and dirty. This was April of 1862. The battle lasted for a day. We surprised Grant's troops and met them in battle. We were coming from Mississippi and that's where they were headed. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop them, although I read later they had more dead than we did which I suppose is a good thing since we were stretched a bit thin on men by then anyway. Anyway, this is a couple of hours into the battle, I believe." 

He pressed play and immediately, they heard cannons booming and the sound of musket balls hitting tree trunks. Frank gritted his teeth and pressed against the tree trunk when a musket ball hit the front of his tree. 

"Damn it, them Yanks just won't give up," he yelled to the guy hiding behind the tree beside his. 

"Yeah, not to mention no matter how many of them we shoot, they keep on going," the man yelled back. 

Frank paused the image for a moment and pointed to the blonde haired man beside him. 

"That was Josiah. We became good friends. Actually, come to find out, he'd grown up five miles from our farm and I never knew he was there and he never knew I was there which shows you how far I traveled in those days. Anyway..." 

He resumed the simulation and Frank peeked out from behind the tree before he aimed his rifle at something and fired. Then he quickly hid behind the tree again while he reloaded. He and Josiah flinched when a cannonball came through the woods, landing with a bang near their position. 

"Damn it, those Yanks are gonna be the death of us," Frank yelled to Josiah. 

Just then, a musket ball hit Josiah directly in the forehead and everyone gasped when he fell down to the ground, dead. Frank stared at his friend in shock for a moment before noises of the battle brought him back to reality. He finished loading the rifle, aimed and shot again. Frank paused the simulation. 

"Yeah, um...watched one of my friends die right in front of me," he said while everyone stared at him sadly. "Definitely not a good day. And he was only seventeen, so around my age. He wasn't the only one that died that day, obviously, but he was my friend and it tore me up inside. We couldn't even take him home to his ma because they didn't have embalming back then so he had to be buried with everyone else at Pittsburg Landing where the battle took place. 

"God, that's horrible," Stevie said. 

"Yeah. I lost a couple other friends before my abduction. One of them had his head torn apart by a cannonball. Me, I never got a scratch on me, thankfully. But I also watched people die from sickness and disease or amputations that went wrong. Made me think I was crazy for being so eager to do it in the first place. I certainly became a man during that time. Um...I do want to show you something else though because I want your guys' medical or psychological opinion." 

Everyone looked at each other and nodded. Frank pushed a button and the scene switched to a campsite. Sitting outside a tent near the real Frank was a young man who was sitting on the ground with a haunted look on his face. His knees were drawn up to his chest and he had his arms wrapped around him. 

"This is Billy, another friend," Frank said. "This is after Shiloh, maybe a few months. We'd seen more action after that battle and he ended up like this." 

He pushed play and Billy began to rock back and forth while staring off into space with that eerie, haunted look on his face. Frank looked at everyone. 

"We didn't have a name for it back then but ya'll think this is PTSD, what he's doing with the rocking and staring into space." 

"I think so," Felicia said. "I've treated a couple of PTSD patients that survived abuse and I recognize the haunted look. I would definitely say it's PTSD though." 

"Well, like I said, we didn't have a name for it back then," Frank said. "Billy was sorta sensitive though, a really sweet guy but I think the war became too much for him and eventually started doing this rocking and staring. " 

"I don't blame him," Diane said. "I mean, from what you showed us of the battle you were in and from what I've read, I think I'd end up flipping out too." 

"Yeah, not many did but a few men I knew ended up like this." 

"Did they let him go home?" Stevie said. "I mean, was he in any condition to fight?" 

"No. But they didn't let him go home either because they just figured it was nerves or fear and that he'd snap out of it. Like I said, they didn't know what to call it and neither did I so that's why I wanted ya'll's opinion. But no, this is what happened to him." 

He pushed another button on the remote and everyone gasped when they now saw him hanging by his neck from a tall oak tree. 

"Me and a couple of other fellas found him like this when he didn't report for the morning assembly one morning. We went searching and found him like this in a nearby woods. And like Josiah, we had to bury him there, couldn't ship him back home. I'm glad they invented embalming so people don't have to be buried far from their relations if they are a long ways away. I never talked to his ma or Josiah's ma but I can imagine how painful it is to know your son is dead and not being able to visit his grave when you want. But anyway, I just wanted your opinion about the PTSD. I eventually read a book about it and I recognized some of the symptoms that Billy had. But now that I've shown you all that, I'll get to the night in question and show you my turning. "


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter Eighty 

"So one night we'd got done marching and we were camping for the night," Frank said as he pushed a button and the image switched to him sitting outside a tent similar to the one Billy was sitting in front of. "I was exhausted. We walked miles and miles in the summer heat with our soldier outfits and all our gear. I tell ya, I dropped a ton of weight being in the army. I was thin to begin with but I was a rail by the time I was abducted. So...I'm eating, if you can call it eating, hardtack and crappy coffee that wasn't fit for pigs, let alone humans. And the hardtack lived up to its name. I probably coulda used that in place of a musket ball and took out several Yanks at the same time. We had to dip the damn thing in the coffee just to soften it up and even then sometimes there were bugs in it." 

"Ugh," Colbie said, making a face. "And you guys lived on that?" 

"Um...occasionally we also had bacon or ham and some beans if we were lucky but the problem was, the confederacy went into this war half assed and we didn't have much supplies to begin with and as the war went on, everything became scarce like I said and it ended up I was eating hardtack and coffee more and more. I certainly don't miss that. But that's what I was doing that night that I was taken. We were near a forest and my tent opening faced that forest and I was spooked because I was convinced there was something in there." 

"And there was," John said. 

"Yup. Although..." 

He hit the play button. They watched while Frank gnawed on the hardtack, making a face at it when he could barely bite into it. He sighed angrily and set his tin coffee mug and hardtack down on a nearby rock. While he stared out at the forest, another soldier passed by with his musket and stopped, looking down at him. 

"Ya'll look troubled," the young man said. 

"Got a bad feeling about those woods over there," Frank said. 

The soldier turned and looked at the forest. 

"You thinkin' there might be Yanks in there?" the soldier said while he studied the trees. 

"Dunno but somethin' ain't right." 

"I think you're spooked after all the battles we fought with the Yanks. You're imaginin' things, Frank," the soldier said. 

"For your sake, you better hope I am," Frank said, annoyed, as the soldier walked on. 

He sipped his coffee and watched the woods. Real Frank paused the memory. 

"Okay, so...jumping on to later that night..." he said to them. 

The scene shifted and now everyone was asleep in their tents. Then it went into Frank's tent and his eyes snapped open when he heard a noise outside his tent. He raised his head and felt around for his rifle in the near darkness. Then a shadow fell over the opening in his flat and suddenly, a vampire was on top of him and holding his hand over his mouth. The vampire was middle aged with a haggard face who looked like he'd seen better days. He had a full beard and jet black hair that was wavy on top and went down the back to his shoulders. While Frank mumbled through his hand, the vampire grinned at him and they saw his fangs. 

"Hello there, pretty one," the vampire said with an English accent. "My, my, aren't you a beauty. I've been watching you all night and I was thinking to myself how you'd be perfect as my mate." 

"So, you had a vampire stalker in your case," Diane said to Frank. 

"Yeah, he seemed to have taken a shine to me, unfortunately. I wasn't into men so unfortunately, the feeling wasn't mutual." 

"You know what? I think I will make you mine," the vampire purred in Frank's ear. "I was thinking here but the mortals are far too close so let's go into the woods where we can have some privacy." 

Frank quickly paused the scenario and everyone looked at him. 

"Um...the vampire used the Voice on me but I didn't think to mute it for Sharon's sake. I might just skip over it a bit. Basically, he told me to stand up and follow him and I did. So in the interest of not hypnotizing the mortal here, I'll fast forward a tad." 

He fast forwarded it a bit. They could see the vampire speak something while he was fast forwarding it and Frank's eyes glaze over. Then once he was past the Voice, he started it up again and they watched as it jumped to the woods and Frank was on the ground with the vampire pressing him to the ground. 

"Sorry, ya'll. I don't remember what happened when I was hypnotized. I only remember this because he woke me up after he got me into the woods and on the ground so that's why it suddenly jumped from my tent to the woods." 

The vampire pressed his weight down on Frank and kept his hand over his mouth while he began to kiss and lick his face. 

"Um...is this gonna get porno in a minute?" Morgan asked. 

"No, thank God," Frank said while everyone laughed. "He didn't go that far but at the time, a man kissing and licking me was more than enough for me." 

They watched while the vampire continued to lick and kiss Frank's face while he struggled to get out from under him. 

"You will be mine," the vampire said in his ear. "Join me." 

Then he plunged his fangs into Frank's neck and Frank let out a muffled scream. 

"So, he wasn't gentle with you either," Christine said to him. 

"No, he wasn't. Although, I suppose he was a bit more gentle than your vampires since I didn't get the snot beat out of me before this happened. Plus, I had no idea what a vampire was since they weren't popular in the states yet so even if you guys sorta had a clue about what was happening to you, I really didn't have one. I just had this weirdo on me, sucking on my blood and kissing me. It was all very humiliating since there wasn't an acceptance of gay people as there is now. If you were that way, you most definitely stayed in the closet so to have a man kissing on me was horrifying to me at that time. Then he took my blood and turned me and I didn't know what the hell had happened. Like I said, I'd never heard of vampires before so I had nothing to compare my experience to." 

They watched while the vampire opened his wrist and fed his blood to Frank. Then he stroked Frank's hair while Frank convulsed and began to die. 

"You think he loved you, he seems loving here," Stevie said, pointing to the vampire while he continued to stroke his hair and whispered to him that everything would be alright. 

"Actually, I think he did. His name was Victor and I stayed with him for awhile while he mentored me. Unfortunately, he was a solitary and was used to feeding on mortals and I did that too, not knowing any better, and I killed a lot of people before I finally learned I didn't have to do that. So my coming of age seemed to have involved a lot of killing, both as a soldier and as a vampire." 

The room went black after Frank finally died. 

"After that, he did take care of me. We went and found someone and he killed them and we drank their blood. It was a family near our campsite. I guess he was scared if he took me back to the campsite, we'd be discovered or I'd try to run off. We were together for about two years and he kept me on a tight leash at first until he realized I wasn't going to run away and then he let up. We traveled for a time around the US. We even stopped to see Lincoln's funeral train when we happened on it. But I did want to go back home to tell my family what happened and he forbid me from doing that. And then after he left, I still didn't go because I figured my family would think I'd been killed in the war and it would have been pointless to go back to them when I really couldn't be with them anymore. But I ended up traveling some more until I came to California and lived there as a solitary for many years. Then I met someone in the Osiris Clan like Felicia did and they took me to see Nicodemus and I realized that I actually wanted to be with others so I settled down and got used to being around people again and civilized myself. So that's basically my story in a nutshell so I suppose Ben is the last one. So if you would take over, my dear man?" 

"Of course, old chap," Benjamin said. 

He passed the remote to his friend and went to stand beside Mick while Benjamin readied the room for his story.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter Eighty One 

"So I have a bit of backstory as well. Felice, Frank and me got together and discussed this which is why we all have a bit of our lives uploaded in addition to the turning. So, I was brought up in a very wealthy family..." 

He pushed a button on the remote and he pointed to an elegant looking three story brick house that was surrounded by other elegant looking houses. 

"We lived in the wealthy area of London and I had everything I could ever want when I was a child. I was a bit spoiled actually. We had servants that took care of our every need and I was shielded from a lot of hardships that less wealthy people had to deal with. There was just one problem though." 

"No video game console to play with," Felicia said. 

Everyone laughed when Benjamin looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"No," he said, drawing out the O while everyone laughed harder. "The problem was I was not the eldest son. At the time, there was the law of primogeniture in England which said that only the eldest son could inherit everything. The other sons were expected to either go into the clergy or the military." 

"You couldn't become a gigolo?" Felicia said. 

Everyone laughed when Benjamin gave her an exasperated look. 

"No, I don't believe that had too many of those back in my day," he said to Felicia. "Or if they did, they were a well-kept secret." 

"But really, that's it? The clergy or the military? They expected the other boys to become only one or the other?" Stevie said. 

"Well, traditionally yes. Not everyone did that but those were considered the honorable professions for people of wealth. I had no real interest in the clergy so I thought I'd give the military a go and see what came of it. I became a recruit at seventeen and my father died a year later so it worked out, I suppose." 

"What about your brother?" Christine said. "Did he handle the family fortune well?" 

"For the most part, yes," Benjamin said. "Although, he did do a bit of spending on luxuries and food and drink but he didn't spend himself into the poorhouse, which didn't surprise me since he always did have a good head on his shoulders. Plus, my father instructed him on how to keep the fortune once he inherited it since my father knew he would someday." 

"Did you have any other brothers?" Colbie said. "And what about sisters?" 

"I had one younger brother and two younger sisters. My sisters were expected to marry into wealth and live with their husbands and be good housewives and mothers. That's what was expected of them and they did actually. They had their coming out and their debutante ball and being presented to the King and Queen and they both married into old money so they were financially stable and well cared for. As for my younger brother..." 

He trailed off and coughed nervously. 

"What? Did he go into the clergy?" Felicia asked. 

"No, he didn't go into either the clergy or military," Benjamin said. "He...became an actor." 

"Oh, good for him," Mick said. 

"Yes. And I think so too...now. But at the time that wasn't done among the upper classes and I thought it was disgraceful and a waste of his life. But...once I was turned, I did go to see him one night in a theater play and he actually was very talented. So despite what I and my family thought, he did choose the profession that best suited him. But as far as I know, he spent most of his life treading the boards and died well off, not as wealthy as my older brother but enough to live in comfort which I suppose is all one can ask for. So it seems that out of all my family, I'm the one that got the rotten luck. And like Frank, I didn't know about vampires so I had nothing to compare myself to except the guy who turned me and he only told me what he thought I needed to know. But anyway, getting ahead of myself here. I joined the military just in time for you damned colonials to get swelled heads and decide you just had to break away from us. For shame!" Benjamin said, wagging his fingers at the Americans. 

"Sorry, we didn't like your tea," Colbie said. 

"You didn't?" Benjamin said. 

"Yeah, that's why we had to dump it, right?" 

"Well, I thought that protesting the tax on the tea and not the tea itself...see here, Kenneth, didn't you teach your children anything about history?" Benjamin teased his friend. 

"Um...I would have loved to but thanks to a sadistic, asshole vampire, I was gone from her life when she was one year old so there really was no chance for me to correct her on her erroneous view of the Boston Tea Party." 

"For shame. For shaaaaaaame!" Benjamin said, wagging his finger at him. 

Ken grinned and everyone laughed when he wagged his finger back at him. 

"But to correct you, my dear Colbie. The tea wasn't the problem, the problem was the British government kept taxing you lot because they had fought a very expensive war in the states several years before. I believe you lot called it The French and Indian War? But parliament felt that since the war was fought on your turf, that it was only fair you shoulder the burden of paying back the debt. Unfortunately, American didn't have a voice in parliament and this tax was thrust upon you without any say from any American and that's what got you lot's panties in a twist. Hence the need to start killing us. And hence, the need to send my arse over to the colonies to stop you lot from killing us. Now in those days, we didn't have lovely aeroplanes so I had to go by ship which was slow and agonizing and I puked my guts out many a day before we finally landed back on terra firma. So after all that, I was a wee bit cranky and not in the mood to fight a lot of rebellious Americans. So like Frank, I settled into a routine of marching, fighting and sitting in a camp eating crappy food and wishing I was somewhere else." 

"Because being a soldier wasn't your choice," Stevie said. 

"No. As I said, it was either that or the clergy for me and the clergy would have been a worse fate, I felt." 

"What would you have done if you didn't have to choose one or the other?" Colbie said. 

"Yeah, if you'd been free to choose a profession, what would you have done?" Lindsey said. 

Benjamin thought. 

"I suppose law, I was fascinated with that. And yes, Caillat, I know that's what you went to university for," he added when Ken started to chuckle. 

"Hey, I could see you being a lawyer," Ken said with a shrug. "You look more the lawyer type than I do." 

"Um...also perhaps medicine? That also fascinated me but my father and society didn't feel like those were honorable professions for me so it was off to America I went with my regiment to fight my fellow Brits, which I didn't agree with. I did see their point of view, although I felt the killing of British subjects over a parliament dispute was uncalled for and extreme but I wasn't like a lot of my fellow soldiers who just wanted to see the rebel leaders dangle at the end of a rope. I suppose I was a lot more civilized than that. Anyway...we landed on American soil and our regiment was sent out to punish traitors rather than just fight the colonial army. I thought that was odd since I thought it a waste of time and manpower but my commanding officer was a sadistic bastard that I believe was narcissistic at the least and possibly sociopathic or psychopathic. He loved tormenting people and loved watching people suffer and I think he enjoyed the opportunity to punish possible rebels. Besides, it was easier to punish defenseless women and children than go face a colonial regiment with muskets and bayonets. And since I wasn't an officer, I couldn't object to this so I had to follow orders. So we landed in New York and this officer whose last name was Bradford, Major Bradford, never did figure out his first name, met with other officers that had been in New York awhile and they gave him a list of names from their spy network of possible traitors to the crown that they felt needed to be punished and made an example of so others wouldn't be tempted to follow them. So....what I'm going to do is show you a couple of incidents of Bradford punishing these so-called traitors because that is the main reason I finally defected to the American side.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter Eighty Two 

"So this is an example of my commanding officer's way of dealing with the so-called Tory traitors," Benjamin said to everyone. This was a woman and her children who to my knowledge were just living their lives in a house just outside of New York. I mean, I could be wrong because I didn't have the spy reports but I didn't see anything that said Tory Traitors to me but as you can see, Major Bradford, really didn't care one way or the other. So..." 

He pushed a button and they saw a small one story wooden house that was painted white with green shutters. It had no porch, just a front door with wooden steps leading up to it. There was a group of Redcoats surrounding the house. A few were carrying torches and some were holding their muskets. Everyone except three people were on foot. The three people at the front were on horses. Ben pointed to the mounted man in the center of the three people. 

"This is Major Bradford and these men flanking him are his aides," he said to everyone. 

Major Bradford looked to be in his early 40's. He was wearing a short powdered wig while his aides' hair was all natural. Bradford had a rough face with a chiseled jaw and cruel eyes. The man on his left looked younger than him and had brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of the neck that was tied with a black ribbon. He had a chubby baby face and a bored expression. The other man was portly with greying salt and pepper hair and a fat, flabby face with huge jowls. He also looked bored. The men surrounding them were all young and without wigs. Benjamin looked around and finally found himself off to the right of Bradford. He pointed himself out to everyone. He looked the same as he did currently except he had flesh colored skin and his brown hair was also pulled back into a ponytail that was tired with a black ribbon. 

"Hey, you look cute with a little ponytail," Felicia said. "You need to start wearing your hair like that again." 

"No thanks, I prefer short hair now," Benjamin said. "But as you can see, we did have the house surrounded. So without further ado..." 

He pushed play and the flaming torches began to flicker and the horses whinnied and shook their heads while Bradford and his men watched the house. From what everyone could see, there didn't look to be any lights anywhere inside, at least not from the front windows. There were white curtains in the two windows on either side of the door. And while they watched, the curtains in the window on the right side of the door parted slightly and they saw a young woman's face briefly before she jerked her head away. 

"My name is Major Bradford of His Majesty's Regiment of Foot. I have been charged with finding and punishing rebellious subjects to the crown. I have information that says you and your family are such rebels. I command you now to come out and surrender or we shall use force!" 

Everyone waited but nothing happened and no one peeked out of the curtains again. 

Major Bradford sighed. 

"Lewis, take some men and bring out the traitors," Bradford said to the aide on his right. 

Lewis saluted. He ordered the men on his side to follow him and everyone noticed that included Benjamin. They could see him hesitate but as the others followed Lewis on his horse, he finally followed them too. They walked up to the house and Lewis got down from his horse and ordered the men to surround it while he told Benjamin and four other men to break the windows out and go inside. 

"Capture all people inside and bring them out alive," Lewis said to them. 

Benjamin saluted with the others before all of them looked around for something to break the glass. Finally, he settled on the butt of his musket and he and a young blonde haired man used the butts of their rifles to break the glass of the window on the right side of the door while the men on the left side did the same. As they were breaking in the glass, the front door opened and the young woman came out with three young children, a boy and twin girls. The twin girls were both five and the little boy was three. One of the girls was holding the boy by his hand while they stood by their mother on the steps. Bradford smirked and rode up to the steps. 

"You are Patience Riley?" Bradford said to the woman. 

The woman brushed a strand of long dark hair away from her thin face. 

"I am, sir," she said. 

"And these are your children?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Are there any others in the house?" 

"Just my servant girl, Mary." 

"Where is your husband?" 

"He's away on business, sir." 

Bradford snorted. He ordered the woman to get Mary and bring her out. Patience called to Mary from the doorway and a moment later, a black girl in her teens appeared in the doorway. 

"You are wealthy enough to afford slaves?" Bradford said. 

"Just this one, sir. We're originally from Virginia," Patience said. "Mary's been with us since she was small." 

"I see. So your husband...what sort of business is he attending to?" 

"He is a barrister, sir. He's in New York while he attends a trial." 

"Mm-hm. And is your husband loyal to the crown, madam?" 

"Absolutely, sir. We all are," Patience said. 

Bradford narrowed his eyes and she shifted uneasily under his intense stare. 

"It has been brought to my attention, madam, that your husband's real profession is as a courier for the rebellion and that he delivers information obtained by spies to General Washington and his ilk." 

"No, sir, we're not involved in that at all," Patience said, holding up her hands. 

"I don't believe you, madam. Our spy network is without equal and your husband's name wouldn't have appeared in their reports unless he was connected to Washington's spy ring. Now where is he?" 

"He's in New York, sir, readying himself for..." 

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Bradford bellowed at her. 

Everyone froze including the people watching the simulation. 

"Wow, what a lovely man," Richard said to Benjamin. "Must have been a real joy to work for him." 

Benjamin snorted. 

"Trust me, I wasn't the only one who loathed the bastard," he said. 

"I believe I just asked for your husband, madam. Produce him within five minutes and I won't punish you and your family." 

Everyone saw Memory Benjamin's shock at that while Patience began to blubber and pled for mercy for her children and Mary. In response, Bradford pulled his pocket watch from the fob pocket and glanced at it pointedly. 

"Your husband...madam," he said with a sneer. 

"Please, sir. He's not here, I'm telling you the truth!" 

"Right," Bradford said before getting down off his horse. "You lot, search the house, every inch of it. You, madam, you and your children and slave come with me." 

Patience soothed her frightened children and Mary helped her as they walked off the steps and followed Bradford on his horse back to the rest of the regiment. Benjamin went inside the house with everyone else and that was where the simulation went. Everyone watched while Benjamin searched the house which was nicely furnished with period furniture. Benjamin walked beside the blonde soldier while they searched the kitchen. 

"There's no one here, James," Benjamin finally said to the other soldier. 

"How can you be so sure, Ben?" James said. 

"Because I could tell that woman was telling the truth. The man isn't here and this is a waste of time." 

"Okay but if he isn't here, what if he is a courier for Washington and he's delivering information about our troops instead of being a barrister." 

"Or...what if he really is a barrister and our spies got it wrong?" Benjamin said. 

"I'm only following orders," James said with a shrug. 

"Yeah, Hitler's men said that at Nuremberg," Ken said. 

"Precisely," Benjamin said, looking at Ken. "Like I said, I believed the woman so I thought what we were doing was an enormous waste of time." 

Memory Benjamin and James froze when they heard a strangled scream outside. 

"What the bloody hell was that?" Benjamin said as he and James ran to the front door. 

They reached the front door and everyone in the simulation room gasped when they saw what he saw. Patience had been stripped naked, tied to a tree so her back was showing and Bradford was flogging her back with a riding crop while some of his men held on to her children and Mary. 

"My God, what is the maniac doing?" Memory Benjamin said while they stood at the door. 

Memory Benjamin and everyone in the simulation room winced when Bradford struck Patience with the riding crop. They heard a THWACK followed by Patience's scream. 

"Where is your sodding husband, you traitor?" Bradford yelled at Patience. 

"He's in New York as a barris..." 

She screamed again when Bradford struck her again. By now her children and Mary were in hysterical tears. Then suddenly, Bradford speeded up the whipping and Patience screamed long and loud as Bradford flogged her as fast and as hard as he could. By now her back was bloody and red with long slash marks from the crop. Patience screamed at him to stop but this only made Bradford go faster. 

"WHERE IS YOUR HUSBAND, WOMAN? TELL ME!" he bellowed at her as he blindly whipped her. 

"Yeah, I can understand why you switched sides, Ben," Lindsey said, shaking his head. 

"Believe me; I only witnessed a few of these atrocities. I heard he committed many more," Benjamin said, over his shoulder. 

"Too bad you weren't a vampire at the time, you could have made short work of him," Christine said. 

"Yes, I most certainly would have annihilated the bastard if I'd been a vampire," Benjamin said, nodding. 

Bradford kept whipping Patience until she finally passed out. Then he stopped. 

"I arrest you all in the name of His Majesty, King George, you will all be taken to the nearest prison and we will get the truth from you," Bradford said to Mary and the children. "Lewis, untie this woman and tie her to the back of my horse. We will show this woman the cost of becoming a traitor to the crown."


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter Eighty Three 

"Yeah, like I said, charming man," Lindsey said as they watched Patience being tied naked to Bradford's horse and Mary and the children put on the back of others. 

"Did you find out what happened to these people?" Morgan said, looking at Benjamin. 

"The husband, I believe, was never apprehended. But Patience and her family were all hung by the neck until dead." 

Everyone gasped. 

"The little children too?" Stevie said in horror. 

Benjamin nodded. 

"I didn't witness it personally but Bradford made sure our regiment knew what became of them. After that, he seemed to lose interest in pursuing Patience's husband since we never went back to the house. I think he just enjoyed stripping her naked and whipping her, to be honest. She wasn't hung for several days and there were a few days where Bradford was not among us. My suspicion was he probably raped her too before she was executed. I can't prove that but given his character and what I observed of the way he treated prisoners, I would bet my life he did." 

"Was he killed in the war or anything?" Colbie said. 

"No. I became a vampire while he was still serving as an officer and a few years later, I did sail to London and made some inquiries and he not only managed to survive the entire war, he served with distinction and was awarded some medals. What for, I couldn't say, but I'm willing to bet they weren't for flogging and raping women. But as far as I know, he lived a long, full life." 

"Ugh," Colbie said with disgust. 

"My sentiments, exactly. Normally, I wouldn't have thought of becoming a turncoat but I gladly did it after seeing the likes of him. But that was really the first incident that I witness of his barbarism. Now I'll show you the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back." 

He pushed a button on the remote and the scene shifted to a stone room. Benjamin was standing by a wooden desk, arms folded over his chest while he waited. He was still dressed in his regiment uniform but now he was wearing a powdered wig. 

"Oh wait, I take it back. You need to start wearing the wig instead," Felicia said. "It looks cute on you too." 

"No thanks, Felice," Benjamin said while everyone laughed. "This is inside a prison in the New York city limits. We had control of it until the Yanks captured the city and we detained prisoners of war there as well as these suspected spies Bradford kept rabbiting on about." 

"So this is Patience and her family were taken?" Stevie said, pointing to the simulation. 

"Most likely. Although there were several other prisons in the city so I can't say for sure. This takes place a couple of months after her arrest though so by now her and her family and maidservant are dead. The reason I am here is I have been summoned by Bradford to be a witness at the...interrogation of another traitor. This is the warden's office that I'm standing in." 

He pushed play and they watched while Memory Ben rocked back and forth slightly on his heels with his hands behind his back. The wooden door off to the right opened and Benjamin stopped rocking and came to rigid attention when Bradford stepped into the room. Benjamin saluted him and Bradford nodded. 

"At ease," he said to Benjamin. 

Benjamin relaxed. 

"I called you here to witness an interrogation of a man named Roger Federer. He's in the interrogation room at present and I'm required to have a second person there while I interrogate him." 

"I understand, sir, but...why me, if I might ask?" 

"Because I like you. I have watched you these past few months and I can tell you will go far in the military. I would like to have more responsibilities from here on out and perhaps if you prove worthy; I will make you one of my aides." 

"Thank you, sir," Benjamin said. 

"Be honest, you wanted to run over and hit the sod, didn't you?" Mick said to the real Benjamin. 

"Um...yes, the thought had crossed my mind," he said to Mick. 

Bradford told the Memory Benjamin to follow him and Benjamin left the room, following Bradford down a stone corridor. They paused at a heavy wooden door and Benjamin stood at attention while Bradford opened the door. He nodded to Benjamin and Benjamin went inside with him. Instantly, everyone saw Benjamin recoil. 

"Why did you flinch like that just then?" Richard said to the real Benjamin. 

"Because Roger had been tortured before this happened and he had soiled and wet himself and I caught a whiff of it the moment I entered the room," Benjamin said to him. 

Memory Benjamin walked over with Bradford to a wooden post that was in the center of the room. Roger was shirtless and tied tightly to it. He had on brown breeches and Benjamin stared at the obvious wet spot in the crotch area as well as a small puddle of piss around his right foot. Roger was middle aged with slightly thinning red hair in front. He had green eyes and a slightly lined, thin face with a weak chin. Benjamin could tell he'd been tortured for awhile since Roger could barely lift his head to look at them. 

"Sir, this man has already been tortured," Memory Benjamin said to Bradford. 

"Yes, I know. He wouldn't talk so I softened him up. I believe he'll talk now," Bradford said, smirking. "Won't you, my friend?" 

Roger swallowed hard and nodded. Bradford glanced back at Benjamin before he stepped in front of Roger. 

"So...we have reason to believe you are a spy for George Washington and a traitor to the crown, is this true?" Bradford said while he watched Roger. 

Roger struggled to raise his head again and shook it. 

"No, sir, I'm loyal to the king," he said in a barely audible voice. 

"That's not what I hear," Bradford said in a high-pitched singsong voice. "I hear you are helping the rebellion by passing along information that is being delivered to your dry goods shop. Is that true?" 

"No," Roger muttered as he shook his head. 

Bradford sighed. Suddenly, without warning, he raised his right foot and slammed it into Roger's crotch. Roger howled in agony as every man except Nicodemus in the simulation room grimaced. 

"The truth, Mister Federer," Bradford said while Roger gasped and his face turned red. 

"Let me guess, he ends up being hanged too for no good reason," Sharon said to the real Benjamin. 

"No, actually, it's much worse," Benjamin said to her. 

Bradford turned to Memory Benjamin and shook his head. 

"These Yanks are stubborn," he said to him. "It takes all I have just to break their wills." 

"Sir. No offense but what if he's telling you the truth?" 

"Impossible! Our spies are the best in the world. They wouldn't give me this man's name for no good reason. Now...you have a go at him." 

"I...beg your pardon." 

Bradford sighed. He walked to a corner of the room, picked up a blood stained whip and took it over to him. Benjamin stared at the whip coiled in his hand. 

"Do it. That is an order!" Bradford barked at him. 

"And here is where you turned traitor," Ken said while Benjamin stared at the whip silently while Bradford held it out to him. 

"Sir," Benjamin said delicately, "the man has been whipped enough. You don't want to kill..." 

Everyone gasped when Bradford decked Benjamin in the face, causing him to fall to the floor. 

"You are a worthless, weakling," Bradford barked at Benjamin while Benjamin glowered at him. "What's wrong? You not inheriting any money from daddy and the priesthood was too much for you so you decided to become a soldier. You wealthy wankers are all the same, lazy and not used to obeying orders. I gave you an order, man. I could very easily court-martial you and you could find yourself swinging beside this bloke. Now get up and do as I say, NOW!" 

"Dang, I'm glad I never had to deal with this in my regiment," Frank said. 

Benjamin stood up and glared at Bradford who was holding the whip out to him. 

"Court-martial me then," Benjamin said. "And believe me, I will tell the tribunal of your abuse of power and all the sadistic things you've been doing to His Majesty's subjects. I will not be party to this. You want him to suffer, do it your bleedin' self...sir!" 

Benjamin's friends cheered and applauded as his memory self turned and left the room, leaving a dumbfounded Bradford behind. 

"And you didn't get shot?" Sharon said. 

"No, although I'm surprised I wasn't shot or hung or drawn and quartered. I was probably one of the very few people on Earth to stand up to that bastard. But no, he had something else in mind for me." 

He pushed a button and the scene switched to a large tent. Benjamin was standing inside it, getting dressed for the day. He was putting on his scarlet coat when Bradford walked through the tent flap. Benjamin stiffened and saluted but Bradford snorted at that." 

"Don't know if you can tell yet but the man was drunk. There was a horrible rum smell coming from his breath," Real Benjamin said to his friends. 

"I have a gift for you," Bradford said with a slightly slurred voice. 

"Yeah, can definitely tell he's hammered now," Richard said. 

"A gift, sir?" 

Bradford nodded and let out a high-pitched giggle before going back outside. 

"You served under this idiot?" Felicia said. 

"Yes, unfortunately," Real Benjamin said. 

Bradford came back inside the tent holding a large woven reed basket in his hands. The basket had a matching reed cover on it. 

"Care to hazard a guess as to what I have here?" Bradford said to him. 

"No sir, I'm really not in the mood for guessing games," Benjamin said. 

"Very well. This is our friend, Roger." 

He turned the basket over, the lid dropped and everyone gasped when Roger's bloody head fell out of the basket along with his intestines. 

"Killed this morning in a most gruesome fashion, I might add. Screamed like a little girl as he was being drawn and quartered. Thought you should know. Well, carry on...with whatever it is you were doing." 

He threw the basket and lid on the ground beside the head and guts. 

"Oh and clean this up will you? Your tent must be regulation at all times. Good day." 

Benjamin gritted his teeth and balled up his fists while Bradford turned and calmly left his tent.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter Eighty Four 

"Yeah, I can totally understand why you left the British side," Richard said when Benjamin paused the memory. 

"Yes. Although I must point out that not every British officer was like that. There were compassionate officers but I was unlucky enough to end up with a sadistic bastard. Anyway, I did in fact make the decision to join the other side because I realized that maybe the American's had a point about wanting to leave Britain behind. Plus, I was tired of fighting for a man who had no scruples so during a battle, I used the chaos to run away and I found some Yanks and quickly surrendered to them, telling them I wanted to change sides and I could provide them with some crucial intelligence. At first I thought they were going to shoot me but apparently they decided to take a chance on me, although I was taken as a prisoner of war at first until one of their officers came to see me. He interrogated me for a few hours and I tried to be as honest and helpful as I could possibly be. I think I impressed him because the next person I saw was General Washington himself. He also spoke with me for a few hours and after I volunteered my services to the rebellion, he made me part of his spy network. He reasoned that I would be able to blend in with the British soldiers and the Tories because I could pretend to still be on their side. So it was this strategy that allowed me to gather information and pass it on to Washington or someone else in his spy network. That's where I was when I was attacked. I had just passed on some information to a courier and I was riding back home. 

He pushed the play button and the scene around them became a dense forest in the dark of night. There was only the moon above and even that gave sparse lighting through the dense canopy of the trees. Benjamin was riding a brown horse down a narrow path in between the trees. He was dressed as a redcoat but didn't have a powdered wig on. There was an iron lantern tied to the saddle but it was unlit as not to draw attention to him. The woods were almost completely quiet, except for the chirping of crickets on either side of him. Occasionally, the wind made the leaves rustle and sometimes he could hear a branch snapping somewhere deep inside the woods but other than that, there was no noise. As he rode silently through the woods, he suddenly heard a rustling that was a lot louder than the rustling of the leaves. He stopped his horse and looked up above him but the foliage was so dense that he couldn't see a thing. Benjamin strained his eyes, trying to find an outline of a person or an animal but couldn't see anything. He sat there on his horse and listened for a moment before he decided to go on. But as he rode on, he kept hearing the rustling noise above him. Finally having had enough, he stopped the horse and pulled a small flintlock pistol out of the waistband of his trousers that had been hidden by the left side of his coat. He held it up, allowing whatever might be up in the trees to see it. 

"Is someone up there?" he yelled out as he aimed his pistol at the canopy. 

"Yesssssss." 

His eyes widened. He heard someone hissing a yes to him but for a moment he wondered if what he heard had been the wind rustling the leaves instead. Unnerved, he held his pistol in his hand while he urged his horse on. The rustling noise continued and he sped his horse up, now completely spooked. 

Suddenly, someone jumped down out of the trees in front of him. He gasped and tried to maneuverer the horse around the person but the horse reared and he yelled as he was thrown backwards off the horse onto the hard ground below. As he lay there with the wind knocked out of him, he was suddenly set upon by a young black woman dressed in a long white dress and bonnet. At least he assumed she was black since her skin was pale, pale almost like a dead person. Before he could ask questions, the woman opened her mouth, revealing gleaming white fangs and plunged them into his jugular vein. Benjamin screamed in agony and tried to push her off him but she grabbed his arms and pinned them to the ground while she fed. 

"So, you were attacked by a woman," Colbie said to Benjamin. 

"Yes. And her skin was pale but was still darker than a Caucasian person so I think that's why I had trouble seeing her in the trees. She was strong though, damn strong. She was smaller and weighed less than I did but at the time I didn't know about vampire strength and I had no idea why I wasn't able to get her off me. Needless to say, she did what everyone else did and fed on me until I was near death. Then she opened her vein, let me feed on her blood and I was turned. And then like Frank's vampire, she mentored me for awhile, although she did have to explain exactly what a vampire was. Her name was Faith and she'd been a slave before she'd been turned. She killed her slave-owner and his family before she ran off. She'd been living as a solitary ever since and apparently attacking white people in revenge for what her master had done to her, enslaving her and all that. So I helped her. Actually, I pointed her towards the British side because even though I was now undead, I was still loyal to the rebellion. As for her, she could care less about that, she just wanted to be free and feed and get her revenge. I eventually grew tired of her and left her behind and traveled like Frank did and like Frank I eventually settled in California and met people from Nicodemus's clan where I became a member. So that's my story about that. However, I do have one more thing left to show you. This took place several years ago in the clan house's common room. 

He pushed a button and the scene switched to the common room. Benjamin was sitting in one of the leather chairs with Richard sitting across from him. Stevie glanced at her brother and saw him perking up when he saw himself. 

"Okay, what's this got to do with his turning, whatever it is?" she heard him muttering to himself. 

Benjamin pushed play. 

"So, what do you think of Christine?" Richard said to Benjamin. 

"I love the tits, they make me hard," Benjamin replied. 

"What?" Christine said while everyone laughed. 

She looked at Richard. 

"I didn't say that. I don't remember even having this conversation," Richard said, pointing at the simulation. 

"You love her tits?" Richard said. 

"Most assuredly. They are like round little lumps of mashed potatoes just waiting to be eaten." 

"What?" Christine said as she walked over to Benjamin. 

"This never happened, Chris. He's making this up," Richard said while everyone laughed. 

Christine stopped in front of Benjamin and folded her arms over her chest, eyeing him while everyone else giggled. 

"Yes, her tits are works of art, no wonder John fancied her, I bet her sucked those nipples all night long," Benjamin said. 

"I don't know about you, but Lindsey really turns my crank," Richard said. 

"I never said that," Richard said while Stevie bent over laughing. 

"I mean when he runs his fingers over the guitar strings, I can imagine him running them over my lily white body," Richard said dreamily. 

"Oh?" Lindsey said to Richard. 

"No, because this is fake. We never had this conversation," Richard said. 

Benjamin chuckled. 

"Sorry, couldn't resist uploading a fake memory there but Richard's correct, we never talked about Chris's tits or Lindsey's fingers in a sort of fetish-y way. But you are beautiful, Christine," he said to her. 

"Thank you. And are my breasts like mashed potatoes then?" 

"Yes. And I would eat them but you're back with John now so sadly, I can only stare at them and dream." 

Christine rolled her eyes and playfully swatted the back of his head while everyone else laughed.


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter Eighty Five

After that, everyone was finished with the simulations. Nicodemus thanked everyone for letting him come with them, telling them it had been a very informative evening. He also asked Stevie, Ken, Christine, Colbie and Richard if they wanted to confront Suzanne now or wait till tomorrow night. They looked at one another and decided to go ahead and go and then get something to eat at a fast food place before heading back home. Nicodemus nodded and walked around, telling the others what was going on. While he was doing that, Mick walked up to him and said something softly to him. Nicodemus seemed confused but he nodded at Richard and Richard frowned when Mick and Nicodemus walked over to him and Lindsey. 

"Hey mates, I had a thought," Mick said to them. "I was thinking that before you had your say with Suzanne, we could scare the hell outta her."

"Oh? How?" Richard said. 

Mick smirked.

"I thought we could recreate our little Harmonica Killer film for her," Mick said.

Richard and Lindsey glanced at each other and snickered. 

"You mean go in the room playing a harmonica and looking demented and scary?" Richard said.

"Wait, is this that stupid film you guys filmed that day you were bored and went upstairs to the Maharishi's meditation place?" Ken said.

"The very one," Mick said. "Of course, this would just be between me and Richard since Lindsey only filmed the action that day."

"Yeah but...you want me to go in there and start talking about meditation to Suzanne?" Richard said. 

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of when it's your turn to say your peace to her, I'll start playing my harmonica out in the corridor and you become confused and eventually I'll come in the room with my harmonica and club and pretend to club you to death like we did the in the film."

Lindsey snickered while Stevie looked at Christine and rolled her eyes. 

"Actually, I'd like to see that," Lindsey said. "Especially as tall and menacing as you are and with the bitch all restrained and you're beating on Richard...yeah, that would certainly put some fear into her."

"I was wanting to get permission from Nicodemus to do it since I'm technically not supposed to be there with you."

"If it is okay with all of you, I will allow it," Nicodemus said.

Richard and Lindsey grinned at each other.

"Yeah, I'll go along with it," Richard said. 

"Me too. I want to watch her reaction."

"Actually, me too," Ken said. "I wasn't there when they filmed that and I vaguely remember the footage but anything that scares that waste of space is okay by me."

"What is this?" Colbie said to Ken.

"It's this weird little horror movie Mick, Richard and Lindsey filmed one day when they were bored and we were on a break," Ken said. "It was at the Village Recorder where your mom worked. Which is why I didn't join them because I was too busy flirting with your mom to film some cheesy horror movie. But I saw the finished product where Richard couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Mick wasn't too bad though but Lindsey needs to learn how to hold a camera correctly and film properly.

"Well, that's why I'm a musician and not a filmmaker," Lindsey said. 

"Do you mind if Lindsey goes along too so he can watch this?" Mick said to Nicodemus.

"I do not mind if you do not," Nicodemus said. 

"Brilliant. I'll tell you what. You lot go ahead to the interrogation room and I'll hurry and get the things I need. But Richard, hold off on talking to the bitch till I can get there. I'll let you know when I'm there through the mind link."

Richard nodded. Diane kissed Ken and wished him good luck and Morgan hugged her father. Eventually, everyone left except the ones going to the interrogation room. They left the building with Nicodemus and caught the subway back to the clan house. 

"Give me a few minutes to get her ready before you go in there and begin speaking," Nicodemus said. "If you would like, you can wait in my quarters and I will let you know when we are ready."

They nodded and when they finally got to the clan house, Nicodemus got off at the floor below his quarters while everyone else went up. 

"What are you going to say to her, Dad?" Colbie said to her father while they waited in Nicodemus's quarters. 

"Dunno. Maybe I'll do a bit of gloating. I'm not the one that got the most abuse from her though, that was Stevie, Lindsey and Richard. They're the ones who have the most to say, I think. I was just used by her to pass notes to Lindsey and do it or else. Not to mention she punched me in the face that day. What do you want to say to her?"

"Not sure. I really didn't know her like you guys did but I hate that she kidnapped me and Stevie just because Lindsey didn't want her so I guess I'll say something about that," Colbie said. 

"I'm just glad she didn't do anything to you. She never would have made it out of that club alive if I'd found you dead," he said, putting his arm around her. 

Colbie smiled and snuggled up against him while Ken patted her arm. Colbie looked over and noticed Richard was standing beside Lindsey, talking softly to him while Stevie talked to Christine. Colbie grinned, kissed her father's cheek before she walked over to Richard. Richard was laughing at something Lindsey said when he felt arms going around his neck. He paused and looked over his shoulder at Colbie who was now embracing him from behind and watching him. 

"Hi, hon," Colbie said. 

"Hello, brave girl, loving me in front of her father," Richard replied while Lindsey chuckled. 

Colbie smiled. She walked around in front of Richard and sighed contentedly while she leaned into him. Richard smiled, put his arms around her and quickly stuck his tongue out at Ken while Lindsey laughed. 

"Treat her like a million credits, Dashut," Ken said. 

"I will, old man, quit your bellyachin'," Richard said dismissively. 

He looked at Lindsey.

"As long as I'm dating her, Old Man Cutlass will be right there, breathing down my neck so I don't sully his princess," Richard said to Lindsey.

"I don't blame him, man. I'd be overprotective too. Especially since he hasn't seen her since she was a year old."

"Well, I will treat her like gold," Richard said over his shoulder at Ken.

"Richard?"

"Yes?" Richard said, looking at Colbie. 

"Is there something special we can do to celebrate our newfound love?"

Richard looked at her and Lindsey laughed when he got an image in his head of what Richard was thinking of. 

"Well, there are the love hotels, dear," Richard said. 

"Yeah but I meant something more like ritual and stuff."

"You mean like offer a small goat to the Blood God?" Richard said while Lindsey laughed harder. 

"No, I mean something to show the world we're a couple now."

"Well...I could take you to the love hotel and treat you to a night of carnal delights but I'm guessing that's not what you mean," Richard said to her. "Erm...well, there is the naming ceremony and the cleansing ceremony that some couples do," Richard said, looking back at Ken. 

"What are those?" Colbie said, looking up at Richard.

"Well...they're used to...sorta signal a new thing or a rebirth in someone's life or to signify a fresh start. That's why it's a cleansing ceremony and the naming ceremony is where someone gets a new name, also as a fresh start. Kinda like how some Indian tribes renamed themselves after life changing events."

"So...the person renames themselves?" Colbie said.

"Or someone gives them a name. it can be done either way."

"Cool. Let's do those," Colbie said. 

Richard looked at Ken. 

"What do you think?" he said to Ken.

"She's an adult. If she wants to do that, it's her decision. But generally, people use the names they choose or have chosen for them so if you do accept a new name, you'd have to think about if you'd like to use the new name professionally or stick with Colbie."

Colbie nodded. They looked at the door when Nicodemus opened it and he and Amber stepped into the room. 

"We are ready for you. So if you will follow us, we will take you to see Suzanne," Nicodemus said to them.


	85. Chapter 85

Chapter Eighty Six 

"Wow, we're going to go down into the vampire dungeon," Colbie said while she walked with Richard. 

"Are you scared?" Richard said with wide eyes. 

"Nah. I'm not scared of that little turd. She's a loser," Colbie said, waving her hand dismissively. 

"No, I mean the Rockwiths, aren't you scared of those?"

Colbie frowned and looked at Richard.

"Rockwiths? What are those?"

"Vampire cockroaches. Nasty things. They hide in the shadows and then jump down to prey on your neck."

Colbie stopped and looked at him, trying to see if he was being serious or not. Richard kept a poker face but Colbie could see Lindsey trying to stifle a laugh and she raised her eyebrow. 

"You may be good at hiding your emotions but Lindsey isn't," she said, pointing to him. 

"Aw, damn Lindsey, you need to learn to keep a straight face. I was trying to get her to look around for the vampire cockroaches while we walked," Richard said to him.

"Sorry, you should have warned me beforehand," Lindsey said with a shrug.

As they reached the first door leading to the interrogation rooms, there were two deathwalkers on either side of the door. Their faces were covered but they nodded hello at everyone and everyone except Stevie and Colbie nodded back. They passed by them and headed to a room at the end of the hallway. When they entered, Suzanne was restrained in a chair, glaring at them. 

"Hi, Sweetums," Lindsey said, waving. 

Suzanne's eyes went to Stevie and Colbie and they bugged out when she saw they'd been turned. 

"Oh yeah, they became vampires," Ken said, sensing what she was thinking. "So they can kick your butts now if they wanted to."

Suzanne snorted. 

"Let's get this over with," she muttered. 

Nicodemus urged all of them to step outside while Suzanne gave them murderous looks. They stepped outside and smiled when they saw Amber walking down the hall towards them. 

"Hope I'm not late," she said to them when she reached Lindsey's side. 

"Nah, we're just getting started," Lindsey said. 

Amber looked at Richard.

"Hey Pooky," she said to him.

"Hey, Tons of Fun, joining the party?" he said. 

"I am if you're involved," Amber said. 

"Word of warning, Amber, my daughter is his girlfriend now," Ken said. 

Amber's jaw dropped as she looked at Richard in mock horror. 

"You've chosen another...over me?" she said to him.

"Yes. Sorry. I had to break it off," Richard said melodramatically. "The long distance mind links were hellish and I couldn't keep up. I had to let you go."

"No! I am upset and I suppose I'll have to take my anger out on the skank in there!" she said, pointing to the closed door. 

She smiled and glanced at the door.

"Speaking of, you want me to go first?" she said to everyone.

"You can if you want," Richard said. "I'm waiting on Mick. He's got an idea to scare the crap outta the bitch and he went to get some props."

"Oh, cool. Well, wish me luck. I shouldn't be long."

She nodded at Nicodemus and he opened the door and accompanied her inside.

"Does Nicodemus go in with us so we don't beat the crap outta Suzanne?" Colbie said to Richard. 

"Yes. He goes in there with us to make sure we don't injure her. This is just for saying our peace to her. The retaliation comes later. So...any idea about what you want your new name to be or do you want me to think of one?" he asked her.

Colbie thought about that. 

"Can it be anything I want?" she said to Richard. 

"Yes. But I would choose carefully since most vampires use the new name after they've named themselves or someone's named them. 

"So...if I want Skank Ho Destroyer, that's probably not advisable," Colbie said.

"You're bound and determined to ruin your career, aren't you?" Ken said while everyone laughed. "Hi, I'm Skank Ho Destroyer and this is my song, Bubbly. Yeah, that'll go over well."

"Speaking of...if Colbie decides to use her original name professionally, perhaps we could go to our friends and ask if they play Bubbly over the radio like we did with Moonlight?" Richard said to Ken.

"You can do that?" Colbie said, looking at her father.

"Yes. But...we have to give our friends a name to go along with the song so if you want to stay Colbie professionally, that's fine. Or if you want to use your new name, that's fine too. We just have to know what name you want to use before we ask the DJs to play your song since that's the name you'll be known by in the vampire community."

Colbie nodded. She looked over at the door when it opened and Amber came out with Nicodemus.

"That was quick," Christine said. 

"Eh, cussed the little bitch out and told her I hope she dies in pain. That's all I wanted to say to her. So...next?"

"Can I go in with Dad?" Colbie said to Nicodemus. "I'd rather have him in there with me while I do this."

"It is okay with me if it is okay with Ken," Nicodemus said. 

"Yeah, I'll go in with ya, Colb. Then I can saw my peace after you," Ken said. 

"Steves, you wanna go in together then?" Lindsey said to Stevie.

"I'd like to, yes. If that's okay," Stevie said to Nicodemus.

Nicodemus nodded and Lindsey squeezed her tightly. 

"And when Mick comes back, I want to go in with Richard and watch Richard get the crap beat out of him," Lindsey said. 

Everyone except Amber agreed and Nicodemus chuckled. 

"What's this about my hubby getting beaten up by Mick?" she said. 

They explained it to her and she grinned. 

"Yeah, I wanna see it too when it happens," Amber said to Nicodemus. 

"I will allow it. I am curious now since I have heard much about it. I am supposed to be in there anyway so I am looking forward to this fake killing thing," he said to them.

He looked at Colbie and Ken and nodded. Ken took hold of Colbie's hand and they went inside when Nicodemus opened the door for them. Suzanna was glaring at them as they entered. Ken glared back while Colbie stayed near her father and Nicodemus closed the door. Nicodemus stayed by the door and watched while Ken and Colbie walked up to a spot in front of the chair. Ken stood behind her daughter and nodded when Colbie looked at him, asking if she should go first. Colbie cleared her throat while Suzanne gave her a murderous look. 

"Okay, I don't know you that well and after what I went through, I wish I'd never met you. But you have to be completely stupid to get yourself into this mess. I mean, come on, is Lindsey's love that important that you risked being killed for it? And from what I heard, you had all these chances to back away and leave him alone and you didn't. And then you go and kidnap me and Stevie and got yourself in worse trouble."

"I kidnapped you and her when you and her were mortals so it doesn't count," Suzanna spat out.

"Not from what I heard. I think Nicodemus is going to make it count," Colbie said. 

"You can't do that," Suzanne said. 

"The rules can be changed in certain circumstances," Nicodemus said. "I will speak to the council and obtain their permission because I feel like Colbie and especially Stevie should be counted in all of this. And she is right, you were given numerous chances to leave Lindsey alone but you did not. And even if I did not count Colbie and Stevie, the fact that you kidnapped four other vampires and held them hostage means that those four do count so adding Stevie and Colbie to the list will not make that much of a difference to be honest. But I am not the one that is supposed to be speaking here so Colbie, please continue."

"I'm done. That's all I can think of," Colbie said. "Dad?" she said, looking at her.

"I just want to say that you're damn lucky she wasn't killed or Stevie for that matter because you wouldn't be sitting in this chair right now, instead you'd be in several pieces on the floor of that gladiator club. Personally, I don't give a shit that you punched me in the face or that you bullied me into trying to be a go between for you and Lindsey and your stupid little love notes that were so laughable, a kindergartner could have written one better than you. I'm here because you threatened my daughter and your goons just decided to kidnap her on a whim. And that's why I'm hoping you get the worst possible punishment you can get and I won't shed one tear if it turns out to be an execution. Like my daughter said, you had numerous chances to reform and you didn't so....you made your bed, time to lie in it. And that's all I have to say," Ken said to Nicodemus.

Nicodemus nodded and opened the door. Ken put his arm around Colbie and gave Suzanne one last look before they followed him outside. By now, Mick was with them, holding a small harmonica and a small police truncheon. 

"I didn't have a proper club so I went to Sam and asked for his truncheon since he was a cop in the mortal world. I figure it'll suffice."

"Do you want to go next, Richard?" Ken asked.

"Nah, let me go last and then you guys can all come in and watch," Richard said.

Ken nodded. 

"Well, I guess that means it's our turn, hon," Lindsey said to Stevie. 

Nicodemus opened the door and Lindsey and Stevie followed them inside. Stevie smirked at Suzanne when she glowered at her. Nicodemus stood by the door and closed it while Lindsey and Stevie stood in front of Suzanne.

"So you became a vampire then," Suzanne said to Stevie.

"Yeah, I did. I was going to become one before you kidnapped me but your little abduction delayed it slightly. And...Lindsey's my mate now so...sucks to be you...no pun intended."

Lindsey snickered when Suzanne rolled her eyes at that. 

"Anyway, what I wanted to say is I can't believe you threw your life away like this to chase after a man who didn't love you and will never love you. I hope it was all worth it because you're gonna have to suffer for what you did now," Stevie said. "But on the plus side, you're little interference brought me back to my friends and I now have a mate and a new brother, Richard in case you're wondering," she added when she saw the surprise on Suzanne's face. "So, I have a brand new life now but even so, that doesn't excuse the fact that you tormented Lindsey and my friends and kidnapped me and Colbie and so I'm not going to be upset one bit when you get your comeuppance. Sucks to be you...no pun intended."

"Fuck you," Suzanne said while Lindsey chortled at that. 

Stevie looked at him.

"Your turn?" she said sweetly. 

Lindsey grinned evilly and before Stevie could stop him, he pulled her around and snogged her passionately in front of Suzanne. Nicodemus's eyes widened and he looked at Suzanne who was staring at the couple with silent rage. He finished kissing her and winked at Suzanne as he held Stevie in his arms. 

"That's it for me," Lindsey said to Nicodemus. "Just wanted to rub that in her face. I'm done now."

"Fuck you, Lindsey!" Suzanne yelled at him.

Lindsey blew her an air kiss and he and Stevie turned and left the room with Nicodemus.


	86. Chapter 86

Chapter Eighty Seven 

Suzanne sat in her chair, seething. She hated all of them with a passion and she hated that she had to go through the humiliation of being lectured and taunted by them. 

"You fuckers better watch your backs because I have a feeling it's not gonna be over yet," Suzanne muttered. 

The door opened and Suzanne sighed angrily when Richard entered the room. Her eyes widened when everyone else followed him inside. 

"Wait, they've already said something to me," Suzanne said. 

"So, they want to watch me," Richard said with a shrug. 

"Just say what you want to say and get the fuck out," Suzanne snarled at him. 

"Ooo, that's not very nice," Richard said. "Especially since you're not the one in charge here. You're the one that made the decision to kidnap people and hold them hostage so now you have to..." 

He trailed off when he suddenly heard a harmonica in the distance. He looked around for a moment before he turned his attention back to Suzanne. 

"Anyway...as I was saying, you brought this on yourself," he said. 

He shut up again when he heard the harmonica. He could sense his friends behind him trying hard not to laugh and he knew that Nicodemus was holding the door slightly ajar, otherwise no one would be able to hear the harmonica past the heavy wooden door. 

"So...by the way, do you know about the wonders of meditation?" Richard said. "Mediation is the key to enlightenment and it can cure you of all ills and..." 

Now there was a long drawn out mournful note being played on the harmonica. Richard stood there, listening, as the note dragged on. 

"What the hell is that?" Suzanne said. 

"Yeah, what the hell is that?" Richard said, turning to his friends and sister. "Sounds like the mournful cry of a seagull in the distance." 

Mournful cry of the seagull in the distance, Ken thought to Richard. 

Hey, trying to be poetic here, Richard thought back. 

The long note suddenly became a strangled sound and Nicodemus moved slightly when he sensed someone nearing the door. 

"Anyway, about meditation," Richard said, turning back to Suzanne. 

He froze when the door slowly began to open. Suzanne turned her attention to it and her eyes widened when she saw Mick standing there, shirtless, holding a harmonica in his mouth with one hand while he kept the club raised with the other. Richard feigned ignorance and frowned at Suzanne's shocked expression. 

"What is it?" he said to her. 

Then Mick blew another series of notes on the harmonica and Richard slowly turned around while Lindsey lowered his head to the back of Stevie's head to hide his grin. 

"JESUS CHRIST!" Richard said in a strangled voice as Mick raised the truncheon up over his head and blew the harmonica. 

Suzanne watched in shock while Mick rushed at him and lightly knocked Richard in the head. The others bit their lips and tried hard not to laugh while Mick followed Richard to the ground. Suzanne sighed angrily while Mick continued to play the harmonica while he beat the floor beside Richard's head with the truncheon. Richard flinched and let out a strangled sound while Mick alternated between playing the harmonica and shrieking "BASTARD, YOU BASTARD!" at him. 

"What the hell is this?" Suzanne said as Mick continued to hit the floor beside Richard's head with the truncheon. 

"Offhand, I'd say it was murder," Lindsey said with a shrug. 

"You are all so full of shit," Suzanne said. 

Mick finished up and left Richard a quivering, shaking mass on the floor while he stood up and stared at Suzanne with his best crazed look. Everyone bit their lips when they saw how unnerved Suzanne was by the bulging eyes and insane look Mick had on his face as he stared at her. He blew a few notes on his harmonica while he stared at her with big, unblinking eyes. Then suddenly, he was back to normal and he chuckled while he blew Suzanne a kiss. 

"Just an inside joke, love," Mick said to her while Richard stood up. "Known only to us. Anyway, hope you rot in hell for what you did to my friends. Ta ta, loser." 

"Fuck you, Fleetwood!" 

"No thanks, got a significant other waiting for me at home," Mick said over his shoulder as he walked out the door. "Have a nice day, love!" 

"FUCK YOU!" 

"My, my, what language," Richard said as he and everyone else headed for the door. "You need a good mouth cleansing with some soap." 

"FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!" 

"And so eloquent too," Ken said to the others as they left. "She certainly has a way with words, don't you think?" 

Suzanne gritted her teeth when everyone except Nicodemus laughed at that. Nicodemus waited until all of them left before he closed the door, leaving him alone in the room with Suzanne. 

"And what are you going to say?" she said. 

"I am going to say that I am sorry that it has come to this," Nicodemus said. "If you had perhaps leaned to be friends with Lindsey and his friends instead of trying to make him your lover, you could have been a part of their family circle. But you chose to pursue a man who did not wish to love you and in doing so, you have committed crimes that will possibly lead to your death." 

"And what about you? Can you stop this?" Suzanne said. 

"I could but I probably will not because as everyone else has pointed out, you were given chance after chance to stop and you did not so it has come to this." 

"And you let them come in here and make a fool of me?" 

"They are permitted to come in here and speak to you, which they have done. I am not in charge of censoring them and what they have to say, that is entirely up to them. As for the prank, that was their idea but since they were not attacking you, I permitted it. As you can see, they are not above having a laugh at your expense." 

"And you're letting them get away with that?" 

"Considering what they have been through, yes, I let them get away with that. I myself was curious to see it since it apparently came from something they did back when they were mortal. Some film they thought up. Anyway, your humiliation has come to an end and you can go back to your cell now. I bid you good night, Suzanne." 

"Fuck you!" Suzanne said. 

Nicodemus shrugged before he turned, opened the door, left the room and closed the door behind him.


	87. Chapter 87

Chapter Eighty Eight 

Everyone laughed as they went up to Nicodemus's quarters. 

"Still can't act your way out of a paper bag, Dashut," Ken said as they rode in the elevator. 

"I don't see you doing any acting, Cutlass," Richard retorted. 

"Yeah. And the reason is, I know I can't act," Ken said. "Just like I knew when I finally got inside a studio that I had no chance in hell of being a successful singer, songwriter. I do know my limits, Dashut Through The Snow." 

"What's that? Some kind of weak comeback to Cutlass?" Richard said. 

"I'll think of a good nickname for you, one of these days, Boy-o," Ken said to him. 

"Ha, bring it on, Whitey Cally, I'd love to see what you think up!" 

The elevator stopped. The doors opened and everyone got out. 

"So...dinner at the Garden Café?" Lindsey said to everyone. 

"Sounds good to me," Richard said. "Being faked killed always makes me hungry." 

"I hope you put a shirt on though," Lindsey said to Mick. "I think they follow that whole no shoes, no shirt, no service thing." 

"Eh, I'm knackered. I'd rather go home and relax in front of the telly. I'll let you lot go to the restaurant." 

"And me as well, I have to pick up a few items from the shops," Christine said. "Plus, I wanted to get a few more things for Nadia and...Stevie, you need some stuff as well?" 

"Um...perhaps some underwear and socks. I think I have everything else I need for the moment." 

"Got it. Knickers and socks for you. Anyway, you lot have a good time and I'll see you back at the house, yeah?" 

Everyone nodded and bid her and Mick goodbye before they headed back to the elevator. The rest of them waited for Nicodemus to come back up and when he did, they asked if he needed anything more from them. Nicodemus shook his head. 

"No, not right now. Although I would like to be kept informed of everything that is going on in your house, especially since you are now gaining so many new members. But I will let you know when it is time for her punishment to begin." 

Everyone nodded and bid him goodnight. Nicodemus did so in return and Amber hugged everyone and told them to take care before she stepped back and stood with Nicodemus while they watched everyone get into the elevator. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Once they were on the subway platform, Stevie stood near Lindsey while Colbie stood with Richard. Ken stood beside Richard while they talked softly. While they chatted, Lindsey held Stevie from behind while they stared out at the wall opposite the subway platform. 

"That was cleansing somewhat," Lindsey said softly to Stevie while he held her. 

"Somewhat?" Stevie said, looking at him. 

"Well, I don't think I'll get real closure till her punishment. But it was worth her glares and fuck yous to see the look on her face when Mick came in the room." 

Stevie chuckled. 

"She's lucky he wasn't coked out of his mind when he did that, that would have been really scary," Stevie said. 

"Yes, coked up Mick is a sight to behold," Lindsey said, nodding. 

They fell silent for a moment. 

"Linds, what Colbie and Richard were talking about, with the name change. Do you wanna do that?" 

"Me? No, I don't want to change my name. Or did you mean you?" 

"Yeah, me. I think it sounds interesting. And I am leaving my old life behind." 

"Sure, we can do that. Although, I would advise you using Stevie as a professional name if you're gonna sing down here since Ken and Rich already released the Moonlight single under your name. And are you going to name yourself or should I do it?" 

"Gee, I don't know. Will you be an adult about it when you name me?" 

"I could be. On the other hand, I could name you Booby Tits McGoo." 

He grinned when Richard roared with laughter at that. Ken, who had been talking to Colbie, turned and looked at him. 

"What? What was that?" Ken said while Colbie turned around with him. 

Richard, giggling, quickly explained what Lindsey said while Stevie rolled her eyes and Lindsey sniggered. By then, the subway was pulling up and they got on and sat down. 

"Okay, Lindsey, I'll give you a thousand credits if you officially rename her Booby Tits McGoo," Richard said while the subway train started back up again. 

"You do, Bro, and I'll do to you what you almost did to Felicia except I won't hold back when I snap your wrist off." 

"Hmm, maybe I better hold back on the offer then," Richard said to Lindsey. "Although, I do have a lovely name picked out for Colbie if she wants me to rename her." 

"What is it? Jugs Buttblossom?" 

Lindsey ducked and Richard laughed when Ken tried to hit Lindsey on the top of the head. 

"No, it's nothing vulgar. It's something sweet in Askaddian," Richard said. 

"And that something sweet would be?" Ken said. 

Stevie felt herself being temporarily cut off from her brother's mind while Richard stared intently at Ken. She guessed he'd sealed everyone off from his mind too since Ken seemed to be the only one nodding and smiling. Then she felt her brother's mind in her own again. 

"Okay, I definitely approve of that," Ken was saying. "I would definitely name her that if she's up to it." 

"Is it a nice name?" Colbie said. 

"It is actually, which is surprising since it's coming from Dashut. But on the other hand, Rich does take things seriously from time to time and I think he came up with this name because he really does care about you." 

"Course I care about her. I was around when the little nipper was born and I was just as proud as her as I was of Morgan. It's nice to know that..." 

He paused and pretended to cry. 

"My best friend is fertile," he sobbed. 

Colbie laughed while Ken rolled his eyes. 

"Not anymore though," Lindsey pointed out. 

"Oh yeah, not anymore," Richard agreed with a nod. "But back when he could conceive, he did...twice. I'm so proud!" he gushed. 

"Can it, Douchebag Dashut," Ken teased. 

"Ooo, getting closer to a good nickname for me. I like that," Richard said. 

"What about Scooter. How many times did he conceive?" Colbie said. 

She laughed when Richard paused and stared up at the ceiling of the subway car with a befuddled look on his face. 

"Let's see...as much as that dog humped, I'd say...400 minimum?" Richard said. "And thank God, my leg didn't have a vagina on it or the count would be higher than that. But yeah, 400 love children of every conceivable breed, sex and color, I'd say?" Richard said, looking at Ken. 

"No, I'd put the figure closer to zero, actually," Ken said. 

"Really? You really think that he didn't impregnate some dog, somewhere while you had your head turned?" Richard said. 

Colbie laughed when Ken thought long and hard about that. 

"Okay, there were a couple of nights when he did get free of the yard and I had to go searching for him so maybe two or three then. But it was 400 like you were thinking. And he didn't hump your leg that often, Rich." 

"It was often enough, Cutlass! I'd be sitting at the mixing board, minding my own business, working on the drum sounds for Go Your Own Way and suddenly, WHAM!, your dog would leap onto my leg and shimmy up it like a stripper pole. And then I'd have to stop what I was doing and lose my train of thought to get the Doggy Rapist to stop lovin' my leg and then once Fido was calmed down, I would have to think again of the thing I wanted to do with the drums. And then Ken here would say something helpful like, "Scooter, quit that," and then Scooter would go back under the mixing board, lying in wait for the next time to hump my leg like a canine horror movie or something." 

"Yeah, right, Richard," Ken said, glancing out one of the windows when the subway car started to slow down. "I think my dog was more interested in other dogs than continually humping your leg." 

"Hey, you kept him on a tight leash," Richard said as everyone stood up and got ready to leave. "He didn't have anywhere to go half the time so he gets horny and pent up and there's my leg just ready to leap on." 

"When he wasn't trying to leap on Ginny or Duster," Stevie added as they walked out of the subway car. 

"Okay, my dog is dead so he can't defend himself so can we get on another subject please?" Ken said while everyone laughed. 

Colbie patted his back affectionately and Ken smiled and put his arm around her while they headed for the subway exit.


	88. Chapter 88

Chapter Eighty Nine 

By the time they got back home, everyone was relaxing in the living room, watching TV. 

"Hey, you lot, have a good time at the restaurant?" Mick called out while he sat on the sofa with Sara, Amy and Lucy. 

"Yeah, we did. Had a nice relaxing dinner after having to look at Suzanne's stupid face," Lindsey said. "What about you guys?" 

"Had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and carrots," Frank said. "There's some leftovers in the fridge for anyone who wants them." 

"Maybe later, I'm stuffed," Richard said. "Cheeseburger and fries filled me up extremely well. Chris back yet?" 

"Nope, haven't seen hide nor hair of her," Mick said. "Night's still young though. Nadia is asleep though. It is a wee bit late for her but she enjoyed the dinner." 

"And we gave her a shower and got her to bed," Felicia said. 

"Mm, shower sounds good right now," Richard said. 

He excused himself and went to the stairs, pausing once to rub Renfield's back when he ran to him. 

"And I hope you've been doing okay, little man," he said to the dog while Renfield ran around, trying to lick his outstretched hand. 

He headed upstairs and then sensed someone behind him. He turned to see Stevie was following him. 

"Shower is mine first!" he said to her. 

"I know. I'm just checking on Nadia. Being motherly and all that." 

"I'm so glad you do have a chance to be a mother, Sis. You'd make a great one." 

"You think so?" 

"Sure. I've thought that since I lived with you and Lindsey," Richard said, reaching the second floor. "You're a kind, caring person and if Nadia does end up staying with us, you'll be a good mother and role model for her." 

"Thanks, Bro." 

Richard nodded and smiled. Stevie sat her feet down on the ground behind him and she was following him when suddenly, he stopped short and froze. 

"Richard?" Stevie said, sensing his confusion. 

Richard turned around and he had a confused look on his face that matched the confusion in Stevie's mind. 

"What is it?" Stevie said. 

"Chris. She's scared. I'm trying to reach her through the mind link but..." 

He was taken aback and Stevie felt a twinge of fear when his eyes widened. 

"What's wrong?" Stevie said. 

"Her mind cut out, all at once. Hang on. GUYS, DID YOU JUST SENSE CHRIS BEING SCARED AND THEN HER MIND CUTTING OUT OF YOURS?" he yelled back down the stairs. 

"Yeah, I thought I was imagining things," Lindsey said, coming to the first step. 

By now, the other members of the household were joining them. Stevie felt panicky as she listened to her brother and her family members trying to contact Christine and work out what had happened. 

"Anyone know where she went?" John said. 

"She just said she was going to the shops, she didn't say which ones," Mick said. 

"And she wasn't talking to any of us so I have no idea where she's at," John said. 

"She's seemed to block us all," Lindsey said. "I mean I don't feel her anymore and can't reach her." 

Most of the vampires nodded and agreed with them. 

"Shit, maybe we should get Nicodemus then?" Lindsey said. 

"I think so. I mean, she could have just wanted privacy except I felt her fear just before she did it," Richard said. "I think something's wrong." 

"I'll go," John said. 

"I'll go too, just in case," Lindsey added. "We'll bring Nicodemus back here. Maybe he can find a way to contact her." 

Lindsey and John hurried off while Richard sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 

"Shit. I suppose we'll have to start letting everyone know exactly where we're going to now. Damn it!" 

"You don't think it's to do with Suzanne, do you?" Stevie said nervously. 

"I don't know but I wouldn't put it past her, not after the humiliation we gave her today. I suppose Nicodemus could do another mind probe and see if she was thinking of harming Christine. Damn. That woman's been more trouble than she's worth." 

"But could someone make her shut down all her mind links like that?" Stevie said to him. 

"Maybe. She could be brainwashed into doing it. Or...if she was knocked unconscious, we would have temporarily lost contact with her. That's my thought on it because she was suddenly scared and then nothing so whatever happened, happened fast. If this is more of Suzanne's doing, I'm gonna personally flay the bitch alive for this!" 

"I second that." 

Richard looked over and saw Ken coming up the stairs with everyone else. 

"So you're thinking she's behind it then?" Ken said as everyone came up to the second floor. 

"My guess is yes. I mean, it's a bit coincidental that something's happened to Chris right after we got back from castigating her so yes, I do think she's behind it." 

"Maybe Nicodemus could help us out," Frank said. "He's more powerful than us." 

Everyone nodded. Sharon came up beside Stevie. 

"Is this a normal thing?" she said while Amy, Lucy and Sara came up beside her. 

"No, except for me and Colbie being kidnapped by her. That's why they're suspecting her now," Stevie said. 

"She's a psychopath, trust me," Ken said. "I'm sure the Psychiatrist will agree with me on that point," he added, nodding to Richard. 

"At the very least, yes," Richard said. "Among other psychiatric labels we could come up with for her. The woman's just a complete mental basket case." 

"And she's adding to her list of crimes if this really is her fault," Felicia said. 

"Hm, I'm sure she's in so deep now she probably doesn't care," Benjamin said. "If she's going to be put to death, what's one more crime on top of the others?" 

Stevie swallowed hard and said a silent prayer that whatever happened to Christine, she would end up safe and sound and back home with them.


	89. Chapter 89

Chapter Ninety 

Stevie was relieved when Lindsey returned with John and Nicodemus. Since he left, she'd checked her blood bond with him, convinced he was going to be next. But Lindsey kept telepathically reassuring her that he and John were okay and when he returned, she slipped, relieved, back into his arms. 

Nicodemus was just as alarmed and confused as the others were. 

"We have restrained her and put a suppressor around her neck so she should not be able to communicate with anyone," Nicodemus said while everyone listened. "But Nefrure is talking to the deathwalkers and arranging for a mind probe for her, just to see if somehow she did arrange all this. Have you had any contact with her recently?" 

Most of the vampires in the room shook their heads. 

"I will see what Nefrure finds out tonight and let you know, however did any of you remember Christine saying anything before this happened?" 

"No, she never said a word," Richard said. "I suddenly felt her fear and then nothing but nothing before that." 

"Chrissy's always been independent," John said. "It's not unusual for her to go to the shops by herself." 

"Yeah, but she can usually take care of her herself as well," Mick said. "So whatever happened probably took her by surprise." 

"I hope she's okay," Sharon said. 

"Do not worry, we will find her," Nicodemus said to everyone. 

Nicodemus stayed with them awhile in the hope that Christine would reestablish contact with everyone. While he did that, Stevie went to check on Nadia. She wanted to make sure she was okay but she also wanted to think about what happened. She was frightened for Christine. After dealing with Suzanne, she could imagine what she or her goons had in store for Chris. Not to mention none of them knew how many vampires worked for Suzanne. She was glad she was here but she didn't realize her life and her friend's lives would become so complicated just because of one woman. 

She entered her bedroom and smiled when she noticed Nadia was sleeping peacefully. She was glad that someone was untroubled. She reached out and gingerly touched her head and smiled when she stirred for a moment but quickly went back to sleep. 

She turned and saw Lindsey standing in the doorway. 

"I suppose I don't have to mention that we can hear your thoughts again. I'm sure Richard can too except he's downstairs talking to Nicodemus." 

"You keep saying you're gonna teach me to turn it down but you never get around to it." 

"Yeah, well...that's because things keep happening to prevent us from teaching you." 

"What are we going to do?" 

"I don't know, Steves. Without knowing where Chris went, there's not much chance of finding her. I just hope she's okay. Chris was another one that Suzanne hated." 

"Because she thought you were having an affair with her?" 

"No. Because Chris speaks her mind and holds nothing back and there were a few times when Chris let the bitch know exactly what she thought of her. Especially when Suzanne kept pestering her to deliver those stupid love notes to me. She finally told her to fuck off one time which enraged the idiot but Chris was tired of being harassed by her. So, I could see Suzanne targeting her as well. But hopefully there will be a clue or something will happen that will lead us to her. Not to mention Chris is capable of taking care of herself if she gets an opportunity. She could also escape too. But for the meantime, there's not much we can do other than mind probe the nutcase and see what she knows." 

Stevie nodded. Lindsey drew her to him and kissed her cheek. 

"We'll find her," Lindsey said. 

Stevie nodded. She wasn't entirely sure of that but she knew that it was better to not lose hope. Besides, everyone was able to rescue her and Colbie so she hoped Chris would have the same fate. 

Stevie held her close and kissed her cheek. Stevie closed her eyes and sighed while Lindsey continued to kiss and caress her. She could hear the rest of her family and friends talking downstairs, most of them were brainstorming ways to rescue Christine. Stevie smiled, knowing that Chris had a better chance of returning to them with all of them working together. She even heard the mortal members of the household throwing in suggestions. She loved that they were comfortable enough now to actually help everyone. 

Lindsey kissed her and whispered that maybe they should go back downstairs and let Nadia sleep. Stevie nodded, took his hand and they headed back downstairs. Everyone was sitting or standing in the living room, discussing the problem and throwing out suggestions. Nicodemus was sitting on the sofa with Ken and his family, listening and adding his thoughts when there was a lull in the conversation. Stevie sat down beside Richard on the love seat and Lindsey sat on her other side. As everyone was discussion solutions for what to do to save Chris, Stevie suddenly had a thought. It was a way out thought but it was one that made her wonder if perhaps they were barking up the wrong tree. She glanced at Richard but he didn't seem to pick up on her thoughts since he was staring intently at Mick who was currently offering a suggestion. She hesitated a moment and then gave him an image of the news report they saw where the vampire had been kidnapped and turned into a savage monster. She watched her brother's face become confused before he finally looked at her. 

You really don't think...Richard thought to her. 

That was on the news, wasn't it? That vampires were being kidnapped and turned into killers? What if it's not Suzanne, Stevie thought back. 

Richard considered that for a moment. 

Did you let Lindsey know about this, he thought to her. 

Um....no, unless he knows what I'm thinking because of the mind link we have. 

Richard glanced at Lindsey. He was sitting beside Stevie with his arm draped around her shoulder, watching while John spoke to everyone. Richard glanced at Stevie before telepathically telling him what Stevie had said to him. Lindsey turned his head and raised an eyebrow. 

Wait...that's a bunch of BS, Lindsey thought to them. 

But what if it's not, Stevie thought to Lindsey. 

Yeah, but...I'd pick Suzanne's goons kidnapping Chris over her being kidnapped as part of some weird feral vampire thing, he thought to them. Still, might as well introduce the topic, Steves, since I'm sure the others will want to throw their two cents in. 

Stevie nodded. She waited till John got done speaking before she brought up the subject of the news report. Nearly everyone in the room did a double take when they heard her theory. 

"You seriously think that's what happened to Chris?" Mick said when she finished speaking. "That she's been kidnapped and is going to have her DNA altered?" 

"I don't know but that just popped into my head and I'm just thinking what if it was that and not Suzanne," Stevie said. 

"What's going on?" Amy said. 

Mick explained to her and the rest of the mortals about the news broadcast they'd seen. At the end of his explanation, Amy looked at her sister. 

"So, you could turn a vampire into a monster?" Amy said. 

"Well, it's possible but it's done more with brainwashing than altering DNA," Mick said. "I've never heard of this machine before and it seems a bit fanciful to me. Still, I suppose stranger things have happened." 

"But is there a way you could find this machine?" Karen said. 

"What about that woman in the news broadcast?" Richard said. "The one that the caught. Maybe they could get some information out of her?" 

"How do we find her?" John said. 

Richard shrugged. 

"Internet. Surely they have some info by now on who the woman is. Or we could find which deathwalkers found her and go to them," Richard said. "Tell them we suspect that our friend might have been abducted by the same person." 

"It's worth a try," Ken said with a shrug. "We can look into that as well as Suzanne. Might as well cover all our bases." 

"But if someone did kidnap Chris for that, it'd basically be just a random thing. Not anyone targeting her specifically," Colbie said. 

"Seems so," Mick said. "Unless the authorities did find a connection. If they've gotten that woman to talk though, they must have done some heavy duty deprogramming since it sounded like she was completely bonkers." 

"Still, it is worth a shot," John said. "Like Ken said, might as well cover all our bases just in case this whole reprogramming the DNA thing turns out to be true." 

"Well, I suppose the first place to start is the internet and see what information they have on this woman and who did find her," Mick said. "Then we can take it from there."


	90. Chapter 90

Chapter Ninety One 

"So, could you find info about vampire stuff on the internet?" Colbie asked as everyone went into the tiny office and computer room. 

"Normally, not on the ordinary internet," Ken said. "But we vampires have a special browser." 

"Ah, of course you do," Colbie said. 

Ken grinned and tousled her hair. Everyone gathered around the computer while Felicia sat down and started it up. Once the computer was up and running, she clicked on an icon of vampire fangs on the home screen and brought up a special browser. 

"Behold, the vampire internet," she said over her shoulder. 

"Can you get vampire porn on it?" Colbie asked. 

Morgan laughed when Colbie's parents gave her an odd look. Felicia laughed. 

"Um...yeah, but I doubt your father and mother would want you viewing any," she said. "Anyway, let's go to the news websites and see what we can find." 

She ran a search and found a news website that talked about the altered woman. She clicked on a link and read quietly while everyone watched. 

"Name is Jessica Benchley," Felicia said. "She's in New York though, that's where they found her. So...if we're going to pursue this seriously, I suppose some of us will be taking a trip?" 

"Does it say who found her?" Nicodemus said. "Perhaps I can help grant you an interview with the authorities so you can learn exactly what happened to her and what they found." 

"Yeah, it's the Manhattan deathwalkers that found her," Felicia said over her shoulder. 

Nicodemus nodded. 

"I will contact them and see if they will be willing to speak to whoever wishes to go to New York," he said. "That way you will not go all the way there and find that it is a dead end." 

"Who's going?" Felicia said. 

"Me," Stevie said. 

"You? Why, you?" Lindsey said. 

He grinned when Stevie raised her eyebrow at that. 

"Kidding. You want to go because Chris is your best friend and you want to help her, right?" Lindsey said. 

"Right." 

"Plus...you're kinda curious because you wanna go see New York," Richard added. 

"Well...yeah," Stevie said while Lindsey giggled. "I mean, yes, I am curious. I can't help it." 

"I wanna go too," Colbie said. "And it's not just because I'm curious about New York. I really do want to help find Christine too." 

"I'm assuming at the moment this is fact-finding more than rescuing," Ken said. "Because if it is a rescue, we're gonna need several people to go." 

"I believe I can also help with that," Nicodemus said. "I believe I can also arrange transportation for you." 

"Wow, you can do a lot," Morgan said. 

Nicodemus chuckled. 

"It helps to be the leader of a clan, my dear," he said. "And after a few thousand years, you meet people and form connections." 

"Well, if Stevie's going, I'm going," Lindsey said. "I need to look after her bosom...I mean her, I need to look after her!" he said quickly. 

Everyone except Stevie and Nicodemus laughed at that. Stevie playfully swatted Lindsey's stomach and Lindsey shrugged and kissed her cheek. 

"I suppose I'll go too," Richard said. 

"Why? To look after Stevie's bosom?" Lindsey said. 

"No, to look after Colbie's bosom so Cutlass doesn't kill me when I get back." 

"No worries, I'm going too," Ken said. "For the very same reason, except I won't be protecting my daughter's bosom as you put it." 

"Maybe I should come," Mick said. "You need a tall person to fight the crazies and provide lookout for all those thick New York crowds." 

"I think I'll come as well," Benjamin said. "You may need a soldier's expertise with this." 

"And me," Sharon said. 

Everyone looked at her. Sharon shrugged. 

"Chris is my friend too and I mean I know I'm not a vampire but I do want to help," she said shrugging. 

"So..." Lindsey said. "Team New York so far is me, Stevie, Richard, Colbie, Ken, Mick, Benjamin and Sharon. Anyone else?" 

"I think some of us should stay behind, just in case," John said. "In case Suzanne is behind this and we learn where Chris is being held, we'll have to have a team of people to rescue her here." 

"So, maybe we'll stop then with our team," Lindsey said. "And the rest of you can be Team Suzanne or Team Psycho Bitch if you prefer." 

"Yeah, Team Psycho Bitch, let's go with that," Felicia said. "So Team New York and Team Psycho Bitch then. And no pressure, by the way, for the mortals that are left. You don't have to help us like Sharon is helping Team New York." 

"I'll help," Karen said, shrugging. "I hate that little bitch and I want to get Chris back as much as you guys do." 

"I'll help as well," Amy said. "I always liked Christine." 

"And me," Lucy said. 

"Wow...um...so I suppose that leaves me then," Sara said, looking around. 

"You don't have to do it, love," Mick said. "Nobody's putting pressure on you." 

"I know but...I also like Chris, she's been a good friend and I want her back safe and sound too so I'll join Team...Psycho Bitch." 

"Okay," John said. "So between the two teams, we ought to find something that'll help us get Chrissy back, yeah? Unless, there's a third option we haven't considered." 

"Yeah but for the moment, let's just stick with these two options and tackle them," Ken said. "If something else is the cause of her disappearance, we can work on it once we've ruled these two possibilities out." 

"Well, if we do have a third option," John said. "I suppose our team could handle it since dealing with Suzanne takes less work than you lot going to New York and doing all the legwork and such. So...if there is some third option that arises, we'll handle it. You'll have enough on your plate in New York." 

"Right! It's time to give our team cheer then!" Lindsey said. "Give me a T!" 

Stevie giggled when no one responded. 

"T?" Colbie finally said. 

"Hey, don't encourage him, young lady," Ken said, poking her back. 

"Okay, fine we won't do a pep rally type thing. Instead, everyone on Team New York prepare yourselves for departure to the big...Lilly White...Apple."


	91. Chapter 91

Chapter Ninety Two 

Stevie went to her bedroom and grabbed one of her tote bags. She wasn't sure exactly what she would need but she didn't have that much to begin with. She opened up her drawers, trying to be as quiet as she could since Nadia was still asleep when Lindsey appeared at the door. 

"We have a small suitcase if you need it," Lindsey said. "It's up in the attic along with the other stuff we're storing." 

"Nah, that's okay. I don't have that much to begin with," Stevie said. "But...how are we traveling to New York?" 

"Train." 

"Aboveground or underground?" 

"Underground. Not the subway either but...it's very fast, kinda like the bullet trains in Japan, except faster than that. We should be in New York in perhaps a day, day and a half." 

"Really? It goes that fast?" 

Lindsey nodded. 

"Yeah. I mean, there's not a lot of options for traveling underground to other cities or countries. We obviously can't fly jumbo jets down here so they had to come up with something that was nearly just as fast that would work with being at a subterranean level. They do actually have planes but they're very small. Biggest are probably like Learjet size but most are smaller than that. So taking one would be very cramped and uncomfortable and it wouldn't get us there as fast." 

"But this train...is that how you get overseas then?" 

"Yes. Except there's no water down here so there's nothing to stop a train from going to here to...Tokyo, say. And like I told you before, if you want to do a world tour, you can either take one of the trains or hire your own personal train beforehand. But...I just hope this works and this Jessica might give us a clue about what happened to Chris...if that is what happened to her. By the way, I don't think we're leaving just now. Nicodemus is going back to make arrangements and we have to wait on him." 

"I know. I just need something to do to take my mind off of what might be happening to Chris." 

"She'll be alright. Christine is a tough old bird," Lindsey said. "If anyone could survive a kidnapping, it'd be her." 

Stevie nodded. Lindsey glanced at Nadia and smiled when he noticed she was still fast asleep. 

"Good thing we aren't all going since we need people to stay here and look after her too," Lindsey said. 

Stevie nodded. 

"What amazes me is Sharon wants to come with us," Stevie said. 

"I know but maybe this is a sign that she might want to join us here down below," Lindsey said in an ominous voice while his eyes widened. 

Stevie chuckled when he bared his fangs and hissed before he closed his mouth and gave his lover a lopsided grin. 

"And I suppose the naming thing will have to wait too," Stevie said. 

"Actually, we could do that anywhere. I'd just need to get a few special items," Lindsey said with a shrug. "And I take it we'll have a hotel room at least for a night so there's an opportunity right there." 

"And for Richard and Colbie too since they're going with us," Stevie said. 

"Yeah and Nervous Nelly Caillat also," Lindsey said, chuckling. "I can just see him barging in on them in the middle of the naming ritual and asking if Richard's given her a decent name or something." 

"I thought he already picked a name for her. He thought it to Ken," Stevie said. 

"Oh yeah, that's right. So I guess no worries there now," Lindsey said. 

"You didn't hear what he thought, did you?" 

"No. You?" 

Stevie shook her head. 

"Whatever it is, it met with Papa's approval, I guess," Lindsey said. "In fact...follow me a moment, Steves." 

Stevie nodded. She sat her bag down on her bed and closed her drawer before following him out. They went back downstairs and found Ken in the kitchen with Diane and Morgan. They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking some blood from plastic cups. Lindsey beckoned to Stevie and she followed him over to Ken. 

"Hey, what did Richard want to name your daughter?" Lindsey said. "We're kinda curious." 

"Well, he said he was thinking of Masjid," Ken said. 

"Beloved?" Stevie said. "That's pretty," she said when Ken nodded. 

"Well...Stevie and I were talking about if...they still wanted the naming ritual to go on, we can always do it in our hotel room in New York and I suppose Richard and Colbie could too," Lindsey said. 

Ken nodded. 

"What about you? What name are you wanting to give her?" Ken said, pointing to Stevie. "Unless, she's choosing it." 

"I told him he could as long as he was mature about it," Stevie said. "And that doesn't include Booby...whatever it was you said..." 

"Booby Tits McGoo?" 

"Yeah, that," Stevie said while Ken snickered. 

"I could call you Oshay Nasaru-oka," Lindsey said. 

"No thanks, I don't want to be known as Bountiful Buttcrack," Stevie said while Ken and his family laughed. 

"Why not, it'd be a great stage name for ya," Lindsey said. 

"No thanks, I'll stick with Stevie as a stage name," Stevie replied. 

Lindsey looked down when Renfield came up to his leg and looked up at him while he wagged his tail. 

"And we could call you the Energizer Bunny," Lindsey said to Renfield before he leaned down and picked him up. "Because you keep going and going and going..." 

He rubbed Renfield's head while the dog frantically tried to lick him. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

After awhile, Diane began searching for Colbie. She found her outside, sitting by the koi pond. The light was on and it illuminated her face. Diane thought she looked so beautiful that way as she walked down the ramp towards her. As she got near, Colbie looked up and smiled. 

"Hi, just thought I'd come out here tonight and watch the fish," Colbie said. "They're very beautiful." 

"Yes, they are," Diane said, sitting down beside her. "But not as beautiful as you." 

"Aw, mom," Colbie said, blushing. 

Diane chuckled and rubbed her daughter's back. 

"You know, I hated it when your father disappeared and you were so young, you never knew him properly. Morgan at least had some memories of him but you never did. I'm glad that you and him are reconnecting and bonding." 

"Me too. He's awesome," Colbie said. "He's just like you said he'd be." 

"Heh, minus the drugs," Diane said. 

"Was he heavily into drugs back then? When he first met you?" 

"Kinda. His thing was beer and some weed and a bit of cocaine now and then. But he was a lot more responsible than the others were. Richard was too, although he indulged a bit more than your father did. It was the band that went totally overboard with the drugs. Your father and Richard wouldn't have been able to do their jobs if they'd taken as much drugs as the band did. So it was never that big a problem. And I did do it too, although we made sure never do to it around you and your sister. We kept the house drug free. But still...he was still a wonderful man, even when he was stoned." 

"Richard too?" 

"Mm, yes. But Richard has a very wacky sense of humor and weed sorta amplified that. Your father can be wacky too but not as much as Richard. Richard is the prankster and comedian. Your father was more the serious type...at least he was more serious than Richard but despite all that, the two of them have always been great friends." 

"He's a sweet guy. I love him," Colbie said. "Despite what Dad thinks about me being involved with him." 

Diane chuckled. 

"Eh, that's your father teasing him and you. I think he's happy that it's Richard you're dating and not some random weirdo he knows nothing about. At least he knows Richard will treat you with respect and dignity." 

"And Richard tried to date you too?" 

Diane grinned. 

"Yeah but your father put his foot down on that one. Your father wanted me badly and he wasn't about to let Richard get his foot in the door. Actually, your father said that when he looked at me, he knew I was the one and that's why he fought so hard to keep Richard away. He just knew that we were going to be together." 

"Did you feel the same way?" 

Diane smiled. 

"I wasn't sure at first because he wasn't the first studio grunt to flirt with me. But when I finally went out on a date with him and got to know him...yeah, it felt right like we were meant to be together. I thought he was cute and everything but after I got to know him, I fell head over heels in love with him. That's why I never remarried, even when they did declare him dead. I just couldn't picture myself with anyone else." 

"I hope I find that with Richard. I'd love to have a romance like you and Dad have." 

"I think you will. But like I said, Richard does have a wacky sense of humor. But you get used to it. But he's also very protective and I know he'll take great care of you and help Ken keep you safe, especially if there really is a maniac running around and kidnapping people." 

"Are you upset you're not going to get to see New York?" Colbie said. 

"Nah. I can see it some other time. I have all of eternity, you know. Besides, we need people to stay here. Not just for Suzanne but to look after Nadia too." 

"You think she's going to end up being with us?" 

"Looks like it. I don't think anyone has found any trace of any family members. At least none that Nadia knows about. I guess we could check the missing person's website and make sure her photo isn't posted there but for now, it looks like she's going to stay with us." 

Colbie nodded. Diane moved closer, smiled and wrapped her arm around her daughter while they snuggled together and watched the fish.


	92. Chapter 92

Chapter Ninety Three 

Eventually, the mortals went to bed, leaving the vampires by themselves. Nicodemus had gone home too, telling them he'd make all the necessary arrangements. The remaining vampires sat in the living room. The TV was on but no one was really watching it. Instead, they were all coming up with strategies and what they wanted to do. 

While they talked, Colbie looked at her mother snuggling with her father and smiled when she thought about what her mother had said to her outside. Diane was snuggling with Ken, stroking his cheek while Ken listened to Frank talking. Ken's hand was lazily stroking his wife's ribs while he listened. She remembered growing up hearing her mother weeping over the loss of her dad and she smiled, knowing her mother was finally at peace again. 

She looked up and smiled when Richard came into the room. He had finally decided to get a shower and he was clean and wearing a white t-shirt and grey sweat pants. She thought he looked handsome that way and she made space when Richard sat down beside her and put his arm around her. Everyone was trying to come up with ideas about how to get Jessica to talk, if she could talk coherently. As everyone was pointing out, she could still be incoherent. 

"But...couldn't they do a mind probe on her like they did on Suzanne?" Morgan said. "I mean, it's only her DNA that's changed, not her mind." 

"Unless they put some false memories in her mind to go with the DNA change," Frank said. "I mean, I don't know if the whole DNA altering thing is real or not but surely whoever did it would want to cover their tracks in case someone did do a mind probe." 

"I agree," Benjamin said. "But perhaps they have found someone powerful enough to penetrate the mind and find the real memories. In this case, I would think they'd want to do that since they need to find whoever is doing this." 

"Unless Suzanne's behind it," Stevie said. 

"Oh, there's a cheerful thought," Lindsey said as he held her close to him while they sat together in one of the chairs. "Suzanne is behind everything then?" 

"Yes. Including the death of the dinosaurs," Stevie said, looking back at him. 

"Wow, she's been one busy gal then," Richard said. "Good thing they caught her before she got around to melting the planet. But it would be freaky if this whole DNA altering thing was another one of her demented schemes." 

He smiled when Colbie cuddled against him and he gave her a sideways hug. Eventually, everyone ran out of ideas and they decided to find something on the TV to watch. But while they were doing that, their neighbors suddenly began blasting their music again. 

"Oh crap!" Mick said. "Don't these people ever learn?" 

"What is it this time?" Lindsey said. 

"Sounds like Justin Timberlake," Richard said. "Which is just as bad as Styx." 

"What the hell?" 

Everyone chuckled when they heard Sharon yelling out upstairs. 

"Oh yes, we forgot to inform most of the mortals about our lovely neighbors," Ken said. 

"What the hell is this?" they heard Amy say. 

"I don't know but they need to turn it down," Sara said. "Or someone needs to call the police on them." 

"It's happened before," they heard Karen say. "They have asshole neighbors that like to crank up the music at three and four in the morning." 

The vampires heard the mortals coming downstairs. Stevie sighed when she noticed Nadia was among them. 

"Crap. They woke her up again," Lindsey said, pointing to Nadia. 

"Someone needs to put these people in their place," Frank said, shaking his head. 

Felicia snapped her fingers. 

"I got it, guys. I need some help though," she said to them. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

"Oh baby, I am bringing sexy back!" 

Next door to the vampires, the man and woman who owned the house were busy getting baked while they were listening to Sexyback. The man danced around while he took a hit off the joint before passing it to his wife. The wife laughed and took a drag on it while she bobbed her head in time to the music. They were both middle aged Caucasians. The man had balding hair on top, a beer belly and a wrinkled, craggy face. He was wearing a slightly soiled wife beater and old and faded blue boxer shorts. The woman was in a silk powder blue nightgown. She had curly red hair and her skin was tight from the result of Botox. She took a drag on the joint and passed it back to her husband who was dancing around in front of her, singing Sexyback loudly and off key. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Stevie felt weird. She, Felicia, Colbie, Richard and Lindsey had gone to the neighbor's house, became mist and slipped under the door. Now they were gliding along the floor towards the sound of the stoned giggling. They paused near the doorway leaving to the living room and Stevie watched the two stoned adults laughing and snorting as the man twirled around. Stevie snorted softly, if only they knew who their neighbors really were... 

When the man and woman wasn't looking, everyone glided inside and headed towards the stereo. The man continued to dance, unaware there was a small fog bank around his stereo now. 

"Yeah, go baby, shake that thang!" the woman said. 

Then suddenly, the music stopped. The man danced for a second or two before he realized there was no long any music to dance to. He stopped, frowned and looked back over his shoulder. All he saw was his stereo but it was turned off. He walked over, examined it and was amazed to see the plug was out of the socket and lying on the floor. He picked up the plug, examined it and then plugged it back in. Instantly, the music blared and he smiled, nodded his head and went back to dancing while the woman continued to smoke her joint. Then about a minute later, the music stopped again. The man spun around, saw his stereo system was off and examined it. He was amazed to see that the stereo was unplugged again. 

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered. 

He gasped when suddenly there was a huge CLANG coming from his kitchen. He and the woman jumped up, ran inside the kitchen and turned on the light. They didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first but then the man spied two large skillets sitting on the counter by the stove that hadn't been there before. He walked over, picked them up and thought for a moment before hitting them together. His eyes widened when they made the exact same clanging sound they heard before. Nervously, he looked around for signs of an intruder. He was still looking when suddenly, the stereo roared to life in the living room, scaring both him and the woman. They started to run out of the kitchen when suddenly the music stopped. The man and the woman looked at one another before they ran into the living room. The man looked at the stereo and noticed that it was unplugged but the plug wasn't where he'd left it the last time. Thoroughly spooked, he pulled her aside and told the woman to leave the house. 

"Honey, I think there's intruders in..." 

He gasped when the stereo suddenly came on again. He spun around and ran over and his eyes boggled when he saw it was plugged in. 

"Shit! Get out! This place is haunted!" the man yelled to the woman. 

"Get out and go where?" 

"I don't know, anywhere that isn't haunted. Come on!" 

As they ran out of the room, they failed to hear soft laughter coming from the mist that was under their furniture and the stereo.


	93. Chapter 93

Chapter Ninety Three 

Everyone laughed as the prankster team exchanged high fives with each other after sneaking back to their house. 

"Yeah, that oughta show them not to turn their stereo up full blast in the wee hours of the morning," Lindsey said. "I hope they think of that stereo turning off and on every time they use it." 

"And best of all," Mick said. "Blessed silence is now coming from their house." 

"So, If you mortals want to go back to bed, you're more than welcome to," Richard said. 

Stevie smiled when Nadia walked over to her and hugged her around the waist. Stevie gave her a sideways hug in return while Nadia held on to her and looked around. She hated that she was leaving the girl behind for a day or two. Even though she wasn't technically her daughter, Stevie felt very protective of Nadia. She wished the girl was old enough to accompany them but after thinking that, she knew that she would be safer here, especially since no one was sure what was behind Christine's disappearance. 

One by one, the mortals drifted off to bed while the vampires got some sodas and relaxed in the living room. Lindsey was flipping through the channels of the vampire cable, looking for something interesting to watch before they had to go to bed while most of the others talked softly amongst themselves. Richard was sitting in the chair closest to the sofa, sipping a can of Coke while he looked at a car magazine that Violet had set aside for him when they'd gone to the store. He was casually flipping through it, studying the cars while reading the captions when suddenly, he felt Christine in his mind again. His eyes boggled and he immediately latched on to her consciousness, frantically thinking to her as he asked her where she was. He waited and suddenly noticed that her thinking was a bit incoherent, like she was struggling to even think properly. Richard glanced around and noticed that no one else seemed aware of Chris. 

Chris, are you there, Richard thought to her. Where are you? 

Rich, Christine thought back. 

Yeah, it's me. Where are you? 

There was a long stretch of silence and Richard sensed Christine struggling to make a coherent thought which terrified him. 

"Stevie, it's Christine, she's trying to communicate with me," Richard said to his sister who was sitting on the sofa beside him. 

Lindsey jerked upright while he sat beside Stevie. He searched his mind but couldn't find any evidence of Christine. He was about to say something to everyone else but he could see everyone else had heard and they were also checking their minds. 

"Anyone besides Richard?" Lindsey said to the others. 

Everyone shook their heads and they all looked at Richard. 

"Where is she? Did she say?" Frank said. 

"She's trying but...she's sluggish. I think she's drugged," Richard said before trying to think to Christine again. 

"Maybe that's why only Richard," Mick said. "She's only capable of contacting one person right now." 

Chris, where are you, Richard tried again. 

Don't...know...can't...see. 

Richard's blood ran cold and he told everyone what she just said. 

"Christ, what's happening to her?" Mick said. 

Can't see because you're blind or because you have something over your eyes, Richard thought, praying it was the latter. 

There was a long stretch of silence and Richard was frantically keeping his mind focused on Christine's mind, holding on to it for fear it would cut out again. 

Blind...fold...Christine finally thought back. 

Richard related that to everyone and there was a collective sigh of relief. 

"So, if she's drugged and blindfolded, she probably won't know where she is," Benjamin said grimly. 

Chris, did you get a look at your surroundings before you were blindfolded or heard anything? Anything that would help us find you, Richard thought. 

There was another long stretch of frustrating silence and Richard silently cursed whoever was doing this to Christine. He could still feel her consciousness but he noticed with alarm it was growing fainter and he had to strain to feel her inside his own mind. 

Chris...can you tell us anything about where you are, Richard thought frantically, sensing that Christine's mind was about to fade out. 

Her consciousness began to fade away and Richard gritted his teeth, trying to hold on to it. He could tell from the other vampires' stricken looks that they could sense his state of mind and his fear and frustration. 

Ma... 

Richard heard Christine start to think something to him before her mind cut out completely. Richard let out a groan after searching his mind and finding no trace of her. 

"Is she gone?" John said. 

Richard nodded, his heart aching. 

"She thought "Ma" though before I lost contact," he said to them. "I asked her to give us some clue of her whereabouts. I don't know if "Ma" was a full word or only part of a larger word but she's gone now." 

The other vampires looked at each other while Stevie put her hand on Richard's shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. Richard smiled and patted her hand in return. 

"Ma," Mick said. "As in mother?" 

"Maybe Massachusetts?" Frank said. 

"Or it might have been part of a longer word like Richard said," Benjamin said. 

"She's gone now though?" John asked. 

Richard sighed sadly and nodded. 

"Yeah, towards the end I was barely able to feel her," Richard said glumly. "I think they were drugging her while she was trying to reach me and that's why it became harder and harder for her to communicate." 

"I swear if Suzanne is behind this, the bitch will have her head served to her on a bloody platter," Mick growled. 

Richard stared at his lap while he tried to search his mind for any trace of Christine, even a faint one. His heart felt like lead when he confirmed his worst suspicion, that she was gone again. 

Bro? 

Richard glanced at Stevie when she thought to him. She still had her hand on his shoulder and she gave it a squeeze. 

I tried to find any trace of her but she's gone again, he thought glumly to her. 

Stevie nodded and gave his shoulder another squeeze. 

Maybe she'll try again, she thought to him. 

I hope so. I hope that wasn't it. 

You can't think like that, Bro, Stevie thought to him. Just stay positive. She might get another chance to contact you or someone else. 

I hope so. Especially since we now have to figure out what "Ma" means, Richard thought back. 

He sipped his Coke while he listened to his friends trying to figure out what "Ma" could mean. He was trying to be positive but from what he felt and what he sensed of how much Christine had struggled to contact him, he knew that if they didn't find her soon, it might be too late for her.


	94. Chapter 94

Chapter Ninety Four 

Finally, the time came to go to bed. Stevie and Lindsey went into Stevie's room and checked on Nadia before they got ready to go to sleep. 

"Hopefully, Nicodemus will have everything arranged by tonight so we can leave," Lindsey said softly to Stevie while they got undressed. 

Stevie nodded. 

"Poor Richard. He's been upset ever since Christine contacted him. I can still feel it," Stevie said to him. 

"I know," Lindsey said. "And I can feel how guilty he is too. Like it's his fault that he wasn't able to hold on to Chris's mind or get more information. It's his sensitive self. He blames himself a lot. But maybe Chris will find the strength to contact us again." 

"I hope so," Stevie said. "Just the fact that she could barely get through to Richard scares me to death." 

"Well, at least she's trying," Lindsey said. "Hopefully, whoever drugged her didn't realize what she did and she'll do it again. We just have to keep trying and hoping that things will work out." 

He kissed her lips. Stevie returned the kiss and cuddled with him for a moment but she still felt bad about Richard so she told Lindsey what she was doing and she'd be back in a moment. Lindsey nodded and gave her another kiss before he let her go. She went looking for Richard. She found him upstairs in the attic, fixing John's old bed. There were other men around him but they were also busy getting ready for bed. Richard glanced over and smiled at his sister when she walked up to him. 

"Caillat still has my bed. I still want to protest," he said, smiling at her. 

"Move the bed out of the room and bring it up here," Stevie said. 

"Hmmm...nah. He'd take it back and that'd just start a big, bed war," Richard said with a shrug. 

"Are you okay, Bro?" Stevie said, rubbing his back. "I mean, about earlier." 

The smile fell off Richard's face and he sighed. 

"I'm just worried," he said to her. 

"I know but you did the best you could," Stevie said. "It wasn't your fault that you couldn't hold on to her mind and get more information." 

"I'm just angry that someone is hurting her and we can't pinpoint where she is," Richard said. "I wish our mind links came with GPS so we could home in on someone the moment we felt their minds. It's so frustrating." 

"I think she's still alive. When people close to me have died, I usually feel it or get a sign and I haven't gotten anything from Chris. I think that means she's still with us." 

"I hope so." 

Stevie felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over at Mick. 

"She'll turn up," Mick said. "If I know her, she'll find a new way to contact us. Don't worry, Richard. She's gonna do something else, I can feel it." 

Richard nodded. Stevie bid Richard good night along with Mick and gave them both kisses on the cheeks before she turned and headed back downstairs. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

By the time she woke up around four P.M, Richard and the mortal members of the household were up and talking. Richard smiled when Stevie came into the living room. 

"Nicodemus was here earlier," Richard said to her. "He not only made the arrangements but Nefrure is going with us too, both to help out and because she figures if Nicodemus is going to be on the other team, she wants to be on ours." 

"Cool, the more the merrier, I say." 

"We just have to wait for the others to wake up and then we have to go to the clan house to collect the tickets and documents we need from Nicodemus and get Nefrure." 

"Sounds good to me," Stevie said. 

"And we need to get some bungee cord too," Richard said. 

Stevie frowned. 

"Why?" she said. 

"So you can tie Sharon to you so she doesn't walk off and get in trouble." 

"Shut up, Richard," Sharon said while Stevie giggled. 

Stevie smiled and embraced her brother. 

"Feeling better?" she asked. 

"A bit. Still a little frustrated and upset because Chris still hasn't said anything but I'm trying to be optimistic. I just hope this trip to New York won't be a waste of time." 

"It won't. Not if we shop while we're there," Stevie said. 

Stevie friends laughed when Richard gave Stevie a bemused look. 

"So...you're all for saving Chris unless you see a sale at Macy's or something," he said to her. 

"Hey, I'm a girl, what can I say?" 

Richard smiled and shook his head while Stevie playfully punched his arm. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Later on, when everyone woke up and had gotten ready. Everybody gathered together in the kitchen to say their goodbyes. 

"Come back with a good lead for Christine," Karen said. 

"We'll try our best, love," Mick said. 

Mick and Ken hugged their families and everyone wished each other luck before Team New York gathered up their things, waved goodbye and headed downstairs to the elevator.


	95. Chapter 95

Chapter Ninety Five 

Stevie was impressed. Rather than walk from the subway stop, this time they had to get a city bus to the train station after getting off the subway. The city bus was remarkably clean and fresh smelling and from what she could see, there were no homeless vampires sleeping on it. In fact, she didn't think she'd seen any homeless vampires anywhere. She asked Lindsey about it and he grinned. 

"Unlike the world above, there are lots of programs in place to help first time vampires get into housing and stay there and programs to assist them with everyday life. In the vampire world, you have to work really hard at being homeless." 

"So if I wasn't living with you guys there would be some program to help me find a house or something?" 

"Yeah. Or an apartment. They'd give you a case worker and give you tons of resources. Most people that work in social services remember what it was like to be a newborn vampire so they and the government also are very compassionate when it comes to that." 

After the bus ride which too about a half hour and brought them near the outskirts of the city, they walked into the train station, which was half a block long. It too was pristine and sweet smelling with limestone walls and marble floors. The station reminded Stevie of an airport with different corridors leading off to different waiting rooms and different tracks going in different directions. Lindsey explained that the LA train station had several nonstop trips and in those cities, you could get connections to other cities and countries. Up at the ticket counter, there were several brochures in a rack listing the nonstop trips and Stevie noticed that the train not only went to New York but also Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington DC, Seattle, Nashville and Atlanta. Nefrure walked up to the front and spoke to the man behind the ticket counter, showing him some paperwork and explaining that reservations had already been made in their names. The man nodded and worked with a computer bringing up the information on his computer screen. Sharon looked around and shook her head. 

"This is bizarre. If it weren't for the vampires, I would think we'd be in an ordinary train station," she said to Stevie as she stood beside her. "I mean, did you know about this stuff?" 

"Some. This is the first time I've been in a train station but I learned a lot about this world before I was changed," Stevie said. "They taught me a lot about it," she added, pointing to the people around her. "I mean, there are horrible things about this world like mortal slavery but there are a lot of cool things like this and it made me fall in love with this world." 

"So you don't regret changing?" 

"No. Not at all. I love being this way. I feel tons better than I ever did being mortal," she said. "And I have all these enhanced senses and I can do many cool things now. Plus, I get to be with my friends and family now." 

"Did it hurt?" 

"A bit but it doesn't last long. Then you're out of it for about a day and your body needs a few days to adjust to the changes but after that...it's just like being a normal person." 

"But you drink blood." 

"Yeah but only from that store brought stuff. I've never hunted anyone or took their blood. And I can't go out during the day but thanks to those special windows we have in the house, I can still see the sun. I thought about it and figured not going out during the day and drinking blood was a small price to pay for what I gained. Why? Are you interested?" 

"Maybe. I guess I have been thinking about it. Part of the reason why I wanted to come was to see more of this world. Plus..." 

She looked around and got close to Stevie. 

"Um...vampires have really good hearing, don't they?" 

Stevie nodded. 

"Why? Is there something personal you wanted to tell me?" 

Sharon nodded. Stevie looked in her purse and found a small pad of paper and a pen. She handed it to Sharon who nodded in understanding. Stevie waited while she wrote something down and then passed it back to her. Stevie looked at what she wrote. 

I LIKE THE BRITISH VAMPIRE. THE CUTE ONE THAT WAS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. IS HE SINGLE? 

Stevie's eyes widened and she bit her lip to keep from laughing while she looked over at Benjamin. He was standing off to the side of the group talking to Mick and Richard. Stevie bit her lip again to hold in her laughter before she wrote her answer back to Sharon and passed the pad of paper back to her. 

AS FAR AS I KNOW, HE IS. DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A FONDNESS FOR DEAD GUYS. 

She giggled when Sharon read that and gave her a wry look. She looked with Sharon when Sharon looked over at Benjamin. Then she wrote something else. 

SO IS HE THE ONLY SINGLE ONE IN THE GROUP? 

Stevie wrote that and thought before she wrote back to her. 

WELL, LINDSEY IS WITH ME. JOHN IS WITH CHRISTINE. RICHARD'S DATING COLBIE. KEN IS MARRIED TO DIANE. MICK, I ASSUME, IS WITH SARA SO THAT LEAVES MORGAN, FRANK, BENJAMIN AND FELICIA AS THE SINGLE ONES. AT LEAST, I'M ASSUMING THAT. AND I'M NOT SURE IF AMY AND LUCY ARE WANTING TO TURN AND KAREN DEFINITELY DOESN'T WANT TO. SO THAT'S THE EXTENT OF MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT EVERYONE. 

Sharon read it and nodded. 

STILL THINK BENJAMIN'S A HOTTIE. 

Stevie giggled and wrote back. 

ASK HIM ON A DATE THEN! 

Sharon read that and looked at Stevie. Stevie gestured towards Benjamin and mouthed "What? Go on! Ask him!" 

"What if he doesn't like me?" Sharon said softly. 

"I suppose you look elsewhere then?" Stevie said softly. "What's the worse that could happen, Shar? He says no? Okay, move on then." 

"Yeah but..." 

She wrote on the pad of paper. 

DOES HE DATE...THE LIVING? 

Stevie looked at her and shrugged before she wrote to her. 

ONE WAY TO KNOW FOR SURE THOUGH. ASK HIM. 

Sharon read that and looked over at him. Stevie could tell she was still being hesitant so she decided to try something. She glanced around at Lindsey and noticed he was reading one of the brochures for the trip to New York while Nefrure finished up getting their tickets. Knowing that only he and Richard were privy to her thoughts at the moment, she grinned and cleared her mind, concentrating on both Lindsey and Richard's mind while she practically screamed at them. 

SHARON WANTS TO FUCK BENJAMIN, DOES HE SCREW MORTALS? 

She giggled when both Lindsey and Richard jerked their heads in shock at nearly the same time as the screamed telepathic message went right into their minds. Both men looked at Stevie in surprise before they looked at each other. 

Wait, is this a joke, Richard thought back. 

No, Sharon thinks Benjamin's a hottie and wants to get with him but she's afraid he doesn't like mortals. Has he ever dated a motal that you know of, Stevie thought to them. 

Richard and Lindsey looked at each other and Richard looked back at Benjamin. Benjamin caught Richard's eye and gave him a quizzical look. Richard looked at Benjamin and Stevie felt him cutting off their connection. She watched Richard and guessed he was telling him about Sharon since Benjamin's eyes suddenly widened and he looked over towards Sharon. 

"Um...what's going on?" Sharon said to Stevie while Stevie felt her brother's mind kick back in. 

"I was telepathically asking Richard and Lindsey about Benjamin liking mortals and I think Richard just telepathically told Benjamin about you," Stevie said. 

"Shit!" Sharon said, turning away. 

Stevie looked at Benjamin. Benjamin was now studying Sharon and sharing a grin with Richard. 

"Would you?" she heard Richard saying to him. 

"Perhaps," she heard Benjamin saying. "She is quite fetching." 

Then Lindsey walked over to them and the three men conferred softly with them looking over at Sharon everyone couple of seconds. Sharon, still mortified, had her back turned to them but Stevie could tell that Benjamin looked interested in her. She was about to say something to Sharon when Nefrure turned around and told everyone they were ready. She passed out tickets to everyone and told everyone to follow her while she led the way to the waiting room for the New York train.


	96. Chapter 96

Chapter Ninety Seven 

The waiting room was also clean, spacious and had soft rock piped into it from speakers mounted in the ceiling. There was also a small table with limited refreshments. The table had a carafe for coffee and pitcher of chilled blood, a small bin filled with ice with small cans of sodas in it and a large plate filled with doughnuts and another bin that was filled with small sacks of potato chips and pretzels. The waiting room was enclosed. The wall facing the terminal had a couple of large plate glass windows in it as well as a glass door. Across the corridor from the waiting room was a gift shop and a restaurant. To the right, down the corridor was the entrance that led out to the train that would take them to New York. Stevie walked over to the table and studied everything while nearly everyone else sat down in the white leather cushioned seats. Near the seats was a large magazine rack filled with magazines. Mick was looking through the selection while Benjamin exited the waiting room and walked across to the gift shop. While Stevie was looking at the refreshment table, Richard walked up beside her. 

"I think Ben is definitely interested in Sharon," he said softly to her. "He's going to the gift shop to get her something." 

Stevie looked at him and looked over her shoulder. Sharon had walked up beside Mick and was studying the magazines in the rack. Stevie looked at Richard. 

"So...he is interested in dating mortals then?" Stevie said softly. 

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like Sharon is a dog and he's human or something. She has a pulse but that's it. He said he does find her attractive. By the way, you oughta try some of these sodas," he added, pointing to the sodas in the iced bin. "They're called Fizz and it's a vampire brand of soda, they're really very good. And the potato chips and pretzels are vampire made too. But yeah, I think Ben is making a move now." 

"Good. I think they'd make a cute couple," Stevie said, looking at the Fizz sodas. "Any suggestions on these sodas," she added, noting there were several flavors of them. 

"Well, I like the cream soda and the cola and the grape are very good," Richard said, studying the selection. 

"Cream soda, I'll try that one," Stevie said, plucking one from the bin. 

"And the potato chips and pretzels are all good. Just as good as Lays, I think." 

Stevie picked up a sack of potato chips. They were ridged potato chips and she looked at the name of them. 

"Raffula Farms All Natural Chips," she read aloud. 

"Yeah, they're very good." 

Stevie turned the sack over and looked for an address for Raffula Farms. 

"Hm, says they're made in Chicago, at least that's where the factory is," she murmured, turning the sack back over. 

Richard selected a cola and a bag of sour cream and onion chips before Stevie followed him back to the chairs. By now, Lindsey was sitting down, watching something on his cell phone. He glanced at Stevie and smiled when she sat down beside him with Richard sitting on her other side. 

"Richard is recommending these snacks to me," Stevie said to Lindsey as she showed them what she got. 

"I was saying both brands are good," Richard said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

"Oh yeah. Um...in fact...hang on, Steves, I wanna get some. Be right back." 

While he was doing that, Colbie came over and sat down beside Richard. Richard smiled and put his arm around her. Then Stevie laughed when Ken stomped over, sat down beside Colbie and eyed Richard suspiciously before he grinned and relaxed. 

"You love playing suspicious dad, don't you?" Richard said to Ken. 

"Just making you nervous, old friend," Ken replied before he opened a magazine he'd gotten from the rack. 

Richard opened his drink and chips and shared some with Colbie, explaining to her what he'd told Stevie. After trying it, Colbie looked back at the refreshment table and excused herself to get some of her own. Stevie, meanwhile, tried the cream soda and was surprised by how good it tasted. She took another sip and licked her lips, loving the taste. Then she tried the chips and liked them just as much. By this time, Lindsey had returned with a cola and a bag of plain potato chips. Stevie snuggled beside him while he watched a baseball game on his phone and ate his meal. Stevie glanced around for Sharon and found her off to the side, talking to Nefrure. Mick was sitting behind her, sipping on a cola and reading a sports magazine. As she continued to look around, she noticed Benjamin was returning with a single rose in his hand that was wrapped in green cellophane. Richard looked at him when he entered, saw the rose in his hand, grinned and nudged Lindsey. Lindsey looked his way, saw the rose in Benjamin's hand and looked around for Sharon. He saw her with Nefrure and looked at his friend. 

"Going for it?" he said softly to him. 

"I think so, yeah. She'll like this?" he said to Stevie while he showed her the rose. 

"Yeah, she loves flowers," Stevie said. 

"Well then, into the breach, dear friends," he said before walking over to her. 

Stevie, Lindsey and Richard watched intently while Benjamin walked over to Sharon and Nefrure. Nefrure smiled at him when he walked up and Sharon turned towards him, freezing when she saw the rose in his hand. Stevie giggled when Sharon turned beet red while Benjamin held it out to her. 

"Wow, blushing. Can't really do that anymore, huh?" Lindsey said to Stevie and Richard. 

"Nope. Turning red is a dead giveaway for the little mortal," Richard said. 

They watched while Sharon took the rose from him and thanked him. Nefrure grinned and excused herself, sensing what was happening. Nefrure noticed the three voyeurs and walked towards them while Benjamin leaned in close to Sharon and started a whispered conversation. 

"Benjamin is interested in Sharon, I see?" she said to Stevie, Lindsey and Richard when she got in front of them. 

"Yeah. Sharon told me she was interested first," Stevie said softly to her. "She thought he was a hottie." 

"What?" 

Everyone looked behind them at Mick who had heard them. Mick's eyes widened before he looked over at Sharon and Benjamin. 

"Seriously?" he said to them. 

"Yeah, Sharon thought Ben was cute and when Ben found out, he went and got the rose for her," Stevie said. 

"No way." 

Stevie looked at Colbie. She and Ken were now listening to them. Colbie looked at her father and the two of them looked at Benjamin and Sharon. 

"For how long?" Colbie said to Stevie. 

"How long has she been interested in Ben, you mean? Not sure but it seems like Ben is willing to have a relationship with her," Stevie said. 

All of them watched Benjamin and Sharon. Both of them were talking low and laughing. 

"Wow, this is great. It's been years since Benny-boy's had a date," Ken said. 

"So...I take it this means we might get another member of the household soon?" Richard said. 

"Well, Shar said she was thinking about turning," Stevie said. 

"We're gonna have to scare our neighbors to the point they never move back so we can take their house," Lindsey said. 

"Yeah, we're gonna definitely have to put in another floor at least," Ken said. "Either that or start our own clan and build a clan house." 

"Can you do that? I mean, just out of curiousity?" Stevie said. 

"Form a clan? Yeah," Ken said. "It's what Nicodemus did. All you have to do is be willing to be the head of one and provide some sort of accommodations for your members. But yeah, anyone could form a clan if they want to." 

"We could be the Penguin Clan," Richard said to him. "Have the Fleetwood Mac penguin logo as our clan tattoo and make a rule that everyone can only dress in black and white clothes." 

"And only Fleetwood Mac music is allowed," Lindsey said. "That or the music of its members." 

"We could also form a hive if he wanted to, a very big hive," Richard said to Ken. 

He sat back and grinned. 

"And right now, the women on both sides of me are wondering what a hive is," he said while Ken laughed. "They're thinking, what is he talking about now? Am I right?" 

"Right," Stevie and Colbie said in unison. 

"A hive is...okay, it sounds kinky, I suppose but...it's kinda a...group marriage situation, I suppose. It's for people who want more than one mate. It's called a hive because it's sorta like a hive situation. You have all these people mated with one another and no one else is allowed to be a part of it unless all the members agree to let them in." 

"And it's male and female?" Colbie said. 

"Male and female, male and male, female and female, young and old...you name it. There's no real boundaries with a hive. It's basically who wants to be a part of it, really?" 

"And it's one big orgy?" Colbie said. 

"Can be," Richard said while Ken chortled. "But not always. It's not always sexual. It's just...um...made up of people who love everyone in the group. Like if the four of us loved one another equally and wanted to be together, we could form a hive. Doesn't mean we're always having sex, just means we want to be mated together as like one unit. Then say Lindsey wanted to be a part of it. The members would vote on letting him be a part of it and it has to be unanimous because everyone is his mate and he's the mate of everyone else." 

"So like everyone could have sex with him then," Stevie said. 

"And he could have sex with everyone in the group, yes. But...generally, unless there's an agreement otherwise, no one in the hive can have sex outside the group and no one outside the hive can have sex with people inside the group. It's kinda complicated in a way." 

"But...okay, like Dad and me, that wouldn't be allowed, would it?" 

"It would if all the members of the hive agreed to it." 

Colbie looked at her father when he said that and gave him a disgusted look. 

"Seriously? Incest is allowed?" she said to him. 

"Technically, anything is allowed, Colb," Ken said. "It depends on what the members agree on. Technically, you could have a hive where there is pedophilia. I'm not saying that's right or I condone it, I'm just saying that you might have a hive where that goes on. But as for you and me, no. I would not be a part of any hive where I was having sexual relations with you." 

"Good, neither would I," Colbie said while Ken grinned at her. "But...would...bestiality then, would that count?" 

"If the members agreed on it," Ken said. "I'm telling you, the only restriction is if a member said no to something, otherwise...anything goes." 

"And like say...me and Richard and Stevie and Lindsey were a hive, we could do each other?" Colbie said. 

"Yes," Richard and Lindsey said. 

"You mean, even Stevie and me," Colbie said. 

"Yes. Or me and Richard...although the thought of that..." 

He laughed when Richard tried to take a backwards swat at his chest. 

"Actually, most vampires don't care about gender," Lindsey said. "They love who they love regardless of gender, race, creed, background. And that includes people who are normally straight. Most vampires don't judge people or point to two women kissing and yell out that they're lesbians. So most vampires, even if they're straight, could love someone of their own gender if that's how they felt about them. So yes, you could be straight and be able to love someone of the same sex in your hive and even have sex with them." 

"Wow, the vampire world is very kinky," Colbie said. 

"What about slaves then?" Stevie said. 

"Um...unless the slave is consenting and wants to be a part of the hive, they wouldn't be considered a part of the hive," Lindsey said. "They could be used by members of the hive as a plaything or something but they wouldn't be a hive member." 

"Weird," Colbie said to Stevie. 

"Yeah. I can see why you guys would think we'd have enough people to form our own hive," Stevie said. 

"Yes, but I don't know if we should," Lindsey said. "I mean if we did, technically you might have to watch Ken, Richard and Mick frenching and licking each other." 

"Um...no, I think I'll skip that," Stevie said while everyone around her laughed.


	97. Chapter 97

Chapter Ninety Eight 

Eventually, an announcement came over the speakers that their train was ready to board. Everyone left the waiting room and when they did, Stevie looked back over her shoulder and noticed that Benjamin and Sharon were walking side by side, talking to one another while Sharon carried a small suitcase in one hand and the rose in the other. They walked outside and the train was just outside the door. It was nearly fifty feet long, painted a gleaming white and at the very front a rose was painted on the beak shaped nose of the engine with the words ROSEBUD painted beside it in an elegant calligraphy. Stevie assumed that was the name of the train as she headed towards a metal stairway. The stairway led up to a long platform. Each car of the train had two doors that slid open, one at the front of the car and one at the back. The doors were all open and Nefrure guided everyone to the very front car, directly behind the engine. The front car was longer than the rest and when they went inside, Stevie could see why. The car not only had seats but there was an upper level with two twin beds in it. On the lower level, the seats were arranged in pairs with four of them grouped around a large Formica table. The chairs and tables were on the left while on the right were vending machines with snacks, drinks and magazines in them. At the front, a big screen TV was mounted in the wall. The whole thing was pleasant and posh. 

"This is what vampire trains are like?" Sharon said, looking around. 

"Actually, this is just first class. Not all of the train looks like this," Nefrure said. 

"I like it. And it'll only take us about a day to reach New York?" Sharon said. 

"Yeah. The train goes very fast but very smooth. It speeds along but you'll be able to get up and move through the cabin once the train gets up to full speed," Lindsey said. 

Lindsey and Stevie sat down in one group of seats while Richard and Colbie sat down across from them. Behind their grouping, Sharon and Benjamin sat with Mick and Nefrure. And Ken sat behind their tables, reading a magazine he had brought with him. Stevie looked at the vending machines before she quickly got up and walked over. She looked at them and frowned when she couldn't see a price for anything. 

"I don't see any prices," Stevie said to them. 

"That's because it's all free. It's complimentary for first class," Lindsey said. "I was listening when they told Nefrure that." 

"Yes," Nefrure said. "But only for first class. And there is a dining car at the back of the train if everyone wants a meal." 

Stevie studied the choices. In the drink vending machine, the sodas were all Fizz brand. She studied them all before she chose cola. She hit a button below a sample of the can and listened as a can dropped into the slot below. She reached through a plastic door covering the slot, got her can of cola and sat back down. Eventually, everyone drifted over, got something to eat or drink and sat back down. The train sat there for about a half hour before an announcement came over some hidden speakers that everyone needed to put their seat belts on because the train was ready to depart in ten minutes. Stevie looked down, found the parts of the seat belt on either side of her and put them on while everyone else did the same. Ten minutes later, the train began to pull out of the station. At first, it was slowly moving then it began to speed up, gaining momentum and going faster and faster until Stevie felt herself being pressed against her seat. The train was zooming along now and what she could see out the window beside their table was just a blur. Then suddenly, the pressure in the cabin seemed to equalize and Stevie felt like she could move and she was no longer pressed into the seat. 

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have reached maximum speed and it is now safe for you to take off your seatbelts and you can now move around the cabin. We are on a nonstop trip to New York City and our estimated time of arrival will be about 26 hours. The restaurant is now open. It is located at the very back of the train and they have meals, sandwiches, soups and beverages. So everyone, sit back, relax and enjoy the trip." 

When the captain stopped speaking, everyone took off their seat belts. 

"Where's the restroom?" Sharon asked. 

"It is upstairs near the beds," Nefrure told her. 

"Okay, I'll be right back then," Sharon said. 

She got up, walked to the front of the car and climbed a narrow staircase up to the second level. Stevie took a sip of her soda and noticed with a frown that her brother was sitting in an extremely rigid pose. She wondered if Christine was trying to contact him again and she asked him. He grinned and shook his head. 

"No. Although I wish that were the case. No, I'm waiting for Nervous Nelly Caillat to leap into my lap so he can check to see if his daughter's been violated or not." 

Stevie laughed when Ken got up, walked over to their table, squeezed past her daughter and plopped down in Richard's lap with his legs dangling over the padded armrest on his right side. Everyone laughed when Ken folded his arms and stared down at Richard. 

"Screwed her yet?" he asked Richard while Colbie giggled hysterically. 

"No, sir," Richard said, playing the role of chastised teen. 

"Got protection?" 

"Condoms, sir," Richard said in the sheepish voice while Colbie and Stevie laughed. 

"Gonna rape my daughter?" 

"HELL YEAH...I mean, no, sir," Richard said while everyone laughed. 

Ken smirked as he looked down at his friend. 

"Horny now?" Ken said to him. 

Richard raised his eyebrow. 

"For you? I mean, I know we discussed hives and me and you and Mick and all but I thought that was just talk." 

"Horny for my daughter?" 

"OH! Okay, sorry you have to be clearer, you know. Yes, I'm very horny for her." 

"Got protection?" 

"I thought you just asked that." 

"Just rechecking to make sure." 

"Yes, I have condoms of every shape, size, color and function." 

"Size?" 

Richard stared at him. 

"I just said I have condoms of every size, sir." 

"No, size of your ding ding. I wanna know." 

Everyone laughed when Richard grinned at his friend. 

"Why are you asking? You worried I might be bigger than you?" 

"Curiosity," Ken said with a shrug. 

"Well, I don't like to brag..." 

Richard sniffed. 

"But I have to wear a heavy duty cup to keep my schlong in check because it's about five miles long." 

Richard sniffed again while Stevie and Colbie giggled insanely. 

"Well, I had to admit I was worried," Ken said. "I was scared that my ten mile schlong was puny but now I realize that some people are punier than me." 

"Dad, gross," Colbie said while everyone laughed. 

"Is this normal?" Nefrure said. 

"It's normal between those two," Mick said. "Don't worry, you get used to it, trust me."


	98. Chapter 98

Chapter Ninety Nine 

After awhile, the mood calmed and the cabin became relatively quiet while everyone read magazines or relaxed. Benjamin and Sharon went upstairs to the beds and Nefrure did the same. Ken, Mick and Lindsey played cards while Stevie and Colbie chatted quietly. Richard read his car magazine while he drank a cola. As he took a sip, he froze when he felt another mind wink into his own. He lowered the can of soda and searched, hoping it was Christine. 

Chris, is that you, he thought to her. 

He tried to latch on to her mind but it kept fading in and out which confused him. He wondered if she was being drugged again and she was fighting it while trying to contact him. He thought again, trying to get her to say something but there was nothing except the hint of consciousness inside her mind. When he told the others what was going on, Mick, Lindsey and Ken tried to find her in their minds but they were unsuccessful. Mick got up and walked over to his table. 

"She isn't saying anything, mate?" he said to Richard. 

"No. She's there but she won't answer. She was fading in and out for a moment but that seems to have stopped for now." 

Ken and Lindsey walked over to Mick's side. 

"At least she's still with us," Ken said. "Even if she isn't answering." 

"Yeah, but why?" Richard said. "Why not answer if she's with it enough to contact me?" 

"Maybe she's being monitored? Her thoughts, I mean," Lindsey said. 

"So she's afraid to answer but at the same time is telling Richard she's alive by just being in his mind," Stevie said. 

"Yeah, but why only me? Is she really that weak that she can only contact me? Why not the rest of you? Especially John. I would think out of all of us, she'd want John to know she's awake." 

"That I can't tell ya, mate," Mick said. "Unless she's just latching onto the nearest mind and that happens to be you." 

Richard nodded. 

Kill. 

Richard frowned when he suddenly heard Chris's voice. It was faint but he thought he heard her thinking "Kill". 

Chris, are you there, he thought to her. 

Kill. 

Richard told everyone what was happening. 

"Kill? Kill what?" Lindsey said. 

Richard shrugged. 

"She doesn't mean they're gonna kill her?" Colbie said. 

"I don't know, I hope not," Richard said. 

Must kill. 

"Okay, now she's thinking "Must kill," Richard said. 

Everyone looked at each other. 

"Must kill what?" Lindsey said. 

Chris, what's going on, Richard thought to her. 

He waited but there was no answer. Frustrated, he told them that she'd fallen silent. 

"Jesus, what are they doing to Chris?" Lindsey said, shaking his head. 

"Is she still there?" Stevie asked. 

"Yeah. Her mind isn't strong right now but it's there. Hold on though, I'm gonna contact John and see if I'm really the only one." 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

John sat with his friends in the living room. They were eating pizza again from Pizza Hut and waiting for news from Nicodemus. Their friend had gone back to arrange for another mind probe for Suzanne. They were worried about Christine and hoping she was okay. John was watching a baseball game on TV and eating a slice of pizza when Richard contacted him. 

John? 

John sat his pizza down on his plate. 

Yeah, mate, how's it goin'? Left for New York yet, he thought back to Richard. 

Yes. And Chris contacted me again. 

John perked up at that. 

She did? Is she alright? What did she say, he thought frantically. 

So she never contacted you? 

No. I haven't felt her. What did she say? 

She said "Kill" and then "Must kill." 

John frowned. 

Wait a tic, he thought to Richard. 

He told everyone in the living room what Richard had said and if anyone had gotten any contact from her. When everyone shook their heads, he thought back to Richard and told them that no one had heard from her. 

Why is she only contacting me then, Richard thought to him. 

Dunno, mate, maybe you're the easiest mind to latch onto, John thought back. 

I just wanted to know if she'd said anything to you. As close as you are to her, I'm surprised she isn't trying to contact you. 

I know but like I said, maybe you're the easiest mind to find for her. Especially if she is drugged. I wonder what "Kill" and "Must kill" mean? 

I don't know but she hasn't said anything else and I'm getting worried. I hope it doesn't mean someone must kill her. 

John sighed. 

I know, mate. Just keep us up to date and stay safe in New York, yeah? 

I will, good luck with Suzanne. 

Thanks, mate, we'll keep you informed of that as well. 

Richard thanked him. John sighed and shook his head, frustrated about the whole situation. He took another bite of pizza before he let the rest of the household know what was going on.


	99. Chapter 99

Chapter One Hundred 

Eventually everyone went to bed. Everyone decided to give the beds to Stevie and Lindsey and Richard and Colbie while the others slept in their seats. Richard and Lindsey lay on the beds closest to the wall while the women slept beside them. 

"I suppose you'll be up first, puttering around," Lindsey said to Richard while he stroked Stevie's side while she slumbered in front of him. 

"I'm kinda afraid to go to sleep if Chris is trying to contact me," Richard said. 

"Is she still there?" 

"Yeah. Not strong but yes, she's there. But I keep thinking to her every so often, trying to get her to talk but she won't say a word. It scares me." 

"Maybe she'll break through to someone else. I just think it's good that she's still trying. Shows how much of a fighter she is." 

Richard nodded. 

"Get some sleep, Rich. You won't be much good to her if you're tired and not at your best." 

"I will. Night, Lindsey." 

"Night, buddy." 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Sharon woke up first. She stirred in her chair and looked around. Ken and Colbie were reclining in the chairs in front of her and behind her was Mick and Nefrure. Sharon glanced at the seat beside her and smile when she saw Benjamin. She'd talked to him most of the night until she grew tired and went to sleep. She liked him. Even though he was a vampire, he was very down to Earth and charming. The more she talked to him, the more she liked him and she wondered if maybe she could make a relationship work between them. 

Not to mention the vampire thing. 

She looked at Ken and Colbie. There were sitting side by side but Colbie's head was laying on Ken's shoulder. Both of them were fast asleep and not breathing. The not breathing part was creepy as was the cadaver look but despite that, they looked sweet together. She'd visited Ken's family over the past thirty years to offer friendship and support and she couldn't begin to count how many times Diane had told her that she regretted that Colbie had never known her father. Even though she thought it a bit strange that this is how father and daughter were reunited, she was glad it happened and that Diane had her family back in one piece. In fact, she could see why Stevie chose to become a vampire since it was all very peaceful in here right now, unlike the horror movies where vampires were out marauding and sucking the blood out of everyone. As she sat there, she wondered about Lori and if she should tell her friend. She understood Stevie's concerns about her brother, Chris. Knowing him, her brother would try to cause trouble for her and even though it was a strange situation, she could see how happy her friend was now and she didn't want anything to ruin it. But she felt that Lori could be trusted to keep Stevie's secret and keep her mouth shut. She thought about maybe getting her alone sometime and telling her. But right now, she had to focus on the problem at hand and worry about getting Christine back safe and sound. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Richard was dreaming. Or at least he thought he was. In his dream, he could see Christine in front of him. He walked towards her, relieved that she was okay but she backed away from him and shook her head. 

"No, stay back," she said to him. 

"Chris, it's me. Come with me, we can help you," Richard said. 

"No. You have to stay away from me." 

"Why?" 

"You're in danger." 

"Danger from what?" 

"Me." 

Richard was confused. 

"You? Why would I be in danger from you?" 

"Because that news story we thought was rubbish, the one about altering a vampire's DNA to make them savage. It's true, Richard. I've been changed." 

"What? That can't be true. And besides, you're here in front of me and you're not savage." 

"That's because I'm asleep. We both are. And I can speak to you freely now." 

"Okay, well...where are you then? Tell us so we can rescue you." 

"I'm not sure where I am. I've been drugged nearly the entire time I've been kidnapped." 

"Is that why you've only been able to contact me? Because your mind is only strong enough to think to one person." 

"No. The man who does this makes his victims latch on to another vampire's mind so they can target them. That's what I mean about you being in danger, Richard. You have to block me before I hunt you down." 

"Chris." 

"Do it, Richard, before you end up like me or dead! Cut me off from your mind." 

"But what about you?" 

"Don't worry about me. Just save yourself and everyone else!" 

Christine looked off to her right. 

"Shit, I'm being roused. Richard, just do it. Stop looking for me, yeah? Do it before something happens to you." 

"Chris, wait!" 

He gritted his teeth and watched as she faded away from his sight.


	100. Chapter 100

Chapter One Hundred and One 

An hour later, Sharon was sipping on a soda and reading an English version of a fashion magazine she'd found in the magazine rack when Richard came downstairs. 

"You're up early again," she said. 

"I rarely sleep a full day," Richard said, shaking his head. "I'm usually first up. Um...are you hungry? I know you don't have a credit stick but I do and if you'd like to go up to the restaurant car, I'll buy you some dinner." 

"I'd love that." 

"I also need to talk to someone. I had what I thought was a dream about Chris but it might not be and since no one else is awake, I just want to tell you what I saw." 

"Okay," Sharon said. 

They walked up to the front of the train. As they went through the cars, they noticed that even thought the other classes were still pretty luxurious, there was a huge difference between first class and the other classes. By the time they got to the back, they were in coach and the seats were arranged like they would be on an airplane with no tables and no refreshments. There was a huge number of people here, most of them still asleep like everyone else. Sharon was amazed how nonchalantly she was taking all this, being able to walk though masses of vampires yet being unafraid of them. 

The restaurant car had soft lighting that gave an ambiance to the place. Up front was a counter where a person stood and took orders from people and behind him was a metal wall with a metal door in it. The lone person behind the counter smiled at that. He was a young man in his twenties with black hair that hung down in a floppy way over his forehead. He had his right eyebrow pierced and his left ear was pierced twice. He was dressed in a white shirt, black waistcoat and black trousers. He greeted them and handed them two laminated menus. Richard and Sharon looked over the food choices before Sharon ordered baked chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans and Richard ordered a porterhouse steak with a baked potato. Both of them ordered colas and after giving the menus back to the man and paying for the food, they walked over to a nearby wooden table and sat down. While they waited on their meals, Richard told Sharon what he saw while he was asleep. Sharon sat there, stunned, when he finished speaking. 

"Do you believe it's real?" she finally said. 

"I don't know, Sharon. I don't dream that much so if I do remember my dream, it's something significant. But this doesn't feel like a dream to me, I think Chris was reaching out and trying to warn me." 

"And now you're a target?" 

"Seems that way. Chris is telling me to block her but I don't know if I should. I'm afraid if I do, I might lose her for good." 

"But I thought you said you can't track anyone through this mind link? So how could she?" 

Richard was about to say something when a young woman came up wheeling their food on a trolley. He waited till they were served their meals and drinks before he answered her. 

"Chris said that her DNA has been altered. Maybe....somehow....the alteration gives the vampire a way to track minds? I mean, just a guess but...that's the only thing I can think of." 

Sharon shook her head. 

"If it's true...can we save Chris?" she said. 

"I don't know. I hope so. Whatever happened to her, I hope it can be reversed somehow. Maybe if we talk to this Jessica, we can learn a bit more about what happened to her. But I'll be damned if I just give up and walk away without trying to save her." 

"I agree. I wouldn't give up on her either. She's been a good friend and I hope that whatever they did isn't permanent." 

Richard put a bit of steak in his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. 

"I still don't buy this whole DNA alteration thing," he said after swallowing it. "I think maybe these people are being brainwashed to think that." 

"And the brainwashing could be reversed?" 

"Maybe. It depends on how deep the brainwashing goes. It takes an expert to fix someone's mind and bring it back to the way it was." 

Bro? 

Richard held up a hand when he heard Stevie's voice in his mind. 

Yes, he thought to her. 

Where are you? 

Restaurant car. Come here. I'll pay for your meal and I have something to tell you. 

Okay, be there in a minute. 

Richard told Sharon what was happening and when Stevie finally arrived, Richard got up, walked up to the counter with her and stood beside her while she placed her order of salmon, mashed potatoes and corn with milk for her beverage. Richard paid for it and Stevie thanked him before she followed him to the table. She smiled at Sharon while she sat down beside her. Once they were seated, Richard told her what happened and Stevie's eyes bulged when she heard him talking about how she might be targeting him and how she wanted him to block her mind. 

"What do we do?" Stevie asked when he finished. 

"Dunno, Sis. I don't want to block her but I don't want to put any of you in danger either." 

"Should we tell Nicodemus?" 

"I think so. The other team needs to know what's going on. But I'm not sure what they can do from their end." 

They continued to talk while they ate their meals. By the time they got back, everyone else was awake. Richard gathered them around before he told them what he'd told Sharon and Stevie. When he finished, everyone looked at each other. 

"I suppose this explains why only Richard's been able to hear her then," Benjamin said. 

"Can you still feel her?" Lindsey asked. 

"Yes. Her mind is still weak but I can feel her." 

"And she's supposed to hunt you down through the mind link somehow?" Lindsey said. 

"I suppose so. At least that's what she said while I was asleep." 

"What are you thinking?" Ken said to Lindsey. 

"Not trying to put Rich in danger but at the same time, can we use this to lure Chris back to us," Lindsey said. 

"You mean let Christine track Richard down?" Colbie said. 

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Richard asked Nefrure. 

"Maybe. We need to be sure that this is real and not just a dream," Nefrure. "I think we should also talk to this other victim to see what the DNA alteration does to the body. I think we should do that before we use Richard to lure Christine to us. I don't want her to come here if she is now stronger than all of us and there is no way to contain her." 

"I agree. We don't to end up dead in our eagerness to get Chris back," Benjamin said. 

"But if this DNA alteration thing is true, why would anyone do this?" Colbie said. "What's the point in changing vampires and making them mean?" 

"Maybe someone is using these vampires as weapons," Ken said. "Turning them into super soldiers or something like that?" 

"And they're just pulling people off the streets randomly," Colbie said. "Or was Christine targeted?" 

"Not to mention we haven't found out if Suzanne is behind this or not," Lindsey said. 

"I will contact Nicodemus and ask him about that," Nefrure. "But I would advise, Richard, that you block Christine for the moment until we find out if it is safe to lure her to us or not." 

Richard nodded. 

"If she's being forced to come after you, Bro. I think her mind will still be there when you unblock her," Stevie said. 

"Yeah, I agree," Ken said. "Someone must want you badly enough to keep Chris's consciousness inside yours." 

Richard nodded. 

"I think you're right. I just hope whatever's been done to her, we can get her back to us safe and sound." 

"We will do everything we can, Richard. But since we are nearly to New York, let us finish this mission we are on before we worry about luring Christine back to us." 

Everyone nodded before they sat down and tried to relax for the duration of the trip.


	101. Chapter 101

Chapter One Hundred and Two 

John nodded hello at Nicodemus as he stepped through the basement door into the kitchen. The others were gathered around behind John and they said hello to Nicodemus while John shut the door behind him. 

"I have completed the mind probe, my friends, and Suzanne is not behind this kidnapping," Nicodemus said to them. 

"Well good, at least she's not behind every little thing that happens to us," Mick said. "Now we have to find out who is behind it." 

"I will contact Nefrure and see what she finds out," Nicodemus said. "They should be in New York very soon." 

"Where is mommy?" Nadia said, walking up to them. 

Nicodemus smiled and patted her head. 

"If you mean Stevie, she is on the other side of the United States now," he said to her. 

"I miss mommy," Nadia said. 

Nicodemus looked at the others. 

"Has Stevie told her to call Stevie mommy?" 

"No, I think she's done that on her own," Mick said. "She doesn't call me daddy and she doesn't call anyone else mummy so I think she's taken a liking to Stevie now." 

"That is good since I think she will be staying with you. I do not have any way to contact any other family members since Nadia does not know any. So perhaps she is yours, after all." 

"Well, that wouldn't be so bad," Frank said. "It'd be nice to have a kid to dote on." 

"Yes. I wouldn't mind being a mom to her," Felicia said. 

Nadia smiled, walked over to her and hugged her. Felicia hugged her back. 

"Yup, could definitely get used to being a mother," she said. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Richard sat with everyone in their seats. The train was finally pulling into the station at New York after 26 hours of travel. He was glad they were finally arriving. He was anxious to get some information and find Christine. Reluctantly, he had shut Christine off, although he hated to do it but if the dream was accurate, Christine wasn't in her right mind at the moment. He wondered if Kill and Must Kill was directed at him then which chilled him to the bone. 

When the train stopped, everyone stood up and collected their things. As they departed the train, Richard suddenly felt Christine inside his head again. He frowned, knowing that he'd blocked her and she shouldn't have been able to get past it since it wasn't a blood bond. He shook his head and blocked her again while he walked with his family and friends but a few minutes later when they were inside the station, he felt her do it again. This time he stopped short and because he was at the back of the group, no one noticed he had stopped until he called to them. When they turned around to look at him, he'd started to tell them what was going on when he suddenly felt Christine filling his whole mind, paralyzing him. He stood there, not able to speak or move while the rest of the group walked back towards him in confusion. 

"Richard? What's wrong?" Ken said. 

Richard tried to speak to him but no words could get out. 

"Richard?" Stevie said. 

Stevie tried to contact him through the mind link but she was shocked when she tried and she was instantly shut out. She looked at her brother and noticed a blank look on his face. Everyone glanced at each other and tried calling his name but Richard wouldn't move or acknowledge them. Then suddenly, Richard turned and walked away from them without saying a word. 

"The hell is this?" Lindsey said. 

"I don't know but my suggestion is we follow him," Mick said. 

They hurried to catch up with Richard who seemed to be walking with purpose. They followed behind him and to their surprise, they saw him walk up to a ticket counter. Stevie stepped to his side and noticed a glazed look in his eyes but when the lady came over to help him, Richard spoke to her in a dull voice and asked for a first class ticket to Boston. Stevie looked at everyone and pointed to Richard while she mouthed, "What's going on?" Ken walked up beside Stevie, glanced at Richard and noticing the lack of expression told Stevie and everyone to do what Richard did and get a ticket to Boston. 

"I'm not sure what this is but I have a feeling that Richard might lead us to Christine," Ken said. "My suggestion is to do what he does and follow where he goes." 

"I agree," Benjamin said. 

They waited while Richard got his ticket and when he turned and walked off to the waiting room for the train, Mick told Lindsey to follow him while they got the tickets. He told Lindsey he'd get his ticket as well and Lindsey nodded and followed his friend while Richard mindlessly walked towards the train waiting room.


	102. Chapter 102

Chapter One Hundred and Three 

Lindsey sat across from Richard in the waiting room, observing him. Richard was sitting in the chair, ramrod straight, with a blank look on his face. Lindsey had tried to telepathically contact him but like Stevie, Richard's link to him was blocked and there was no way Lindsey could get to him. The fact that he was sitting there catatonic creeped Lindsey out and he couldn't help but think in the thirty years he'd known him as a vampire, this was the only time he really reminded Lindsey as a corpse. 

As he sat there and watched his friend, he suddenly felt a glimmer of Richard's mind inside his own. Lindsey perked up and telepathically tried to call to him. 

Lindsey. 

Richard's mental voice was strained but Lindsey could hear him. 

Richard, what's going on, he thought to his friend. 

Christine...controlling me. 

Again, Richard's mental voice was strained. 

"Controlling you? Making you go to Boston?" 

There was a moment of silence. 

Yes, Richard finally thought to him. 

Is this where Christine is? 

Another moment of silence. 

Think...so, Richard struggled to think back to him. 

We're with you, buddy. We're following you and we'll stop this, Lindsey thought to him. 

He waited for a response but none came and Lindsey sighed when he felt the glimmer of Richard's mind slip away. He gritted his teeth in anger and frustrated, vowing to get his hands on whoever had done this to Christine and Richard. He was glad that they had a way to find Christine and stop this, although he wished it didn't come at Richard's expense. 

When everyone else finally came into the waiting room, Lindsey told them what happened. Stevie looked at Richard's face and saw only a blank look. Her heart ached for her brother but when she looked at Colbie, she saw the distraught look on her face and she swallowed hard as she walked over and put her arm around her. Ken kissed his daughter's cheek while Colbie stared at her boyfriend in a numbed silence. Richard didn't acknowledge anyone and Lindsey once again had to battle the fury that was gripping his mind. Helpless to do anything for him, the others resigned themselves to waiting and some of them got some refreshments while Lindsey pulled out his mobile phone and called home to tell his other family members what was going on. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Karen laughed while she and Amy stood at the stove cooking some chicken and fettuccini for supper. They were having that along with salad and garlic bread. While they were doing that, they heard a cell phone going off and then heard John answer it. They continued to talk while they cooked their food until suddenly they heard John cursing and they jerked their heads around to see what was going on. They walked into the living room where the others had gathered. John sighed, put his phone back in his pocket and grimly told everyone what was going on with Richard. Everyone glanced at each other but before they could say anything, John hurried past them, telling everyone he was going to go get Nicodemus. No one stopped him, sensing his rage while he hurried into the kitchen and left to go downstairs. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

The mood in the waiting room was silent and grim. No sigh of life from Richard. He just sat there and stared straight ahead without any emotion. Colbie sat beside him, distraught and Ken sat beside his daughter, trying to console her. 

"You don't think they're going to kill him, do you?" Colbie finally said to her father. 

"I don't know, Colb, but if they wanted to kill him I don't think they'd go through the trouble of getting him to buy a ticket to Boston," Ken said. "For the moment, he just seems to be zombified." 

"Whoever is doing this doesn't seem to realize there are others with him," Mick said. "I mean, why would you send someone back to base if there are others there with him. At least I'm thinking that's what this is all about." 

Lindsey suddenly had a thought. 

"Chris. Maybe we had it wrong all this time," he said. "Maybe Christine really could reach all of us but she only reached out to Richard." 

"So, Chris likes Richard the least then if she did this to him," Colbie said. 

"No, I don't think that's it," Lindsey said, shaking his head. "Christine cares about Richard and has since she's known him. I suspect though that she had to latch onto someone. They probably are monitoring that, whoever they are, and she chose Richard for some reason. Maybe he was the first mind she found or it was a random pick but it wasn't because she hated him. She'd never do something like this to him if she was in her right mind." 

"Well, if whoever the puppet masters are remain unaware of us, we could use that to our advantage and take them by surprise," Benjamin said. 

"I hope you're right," Ken said. "There is the possibility that they do know about us and they made Christine only possess Richard because they knew the rest of us would follow him. Which means we really do have to watch our backs before we end up like Richard and Chris." 

They heard the announcement coming through the speaker that the train was ready to board. Richard shot up like a rocket which startled everyone and everyone stood up after him, watching while Richard mindlessly walked towards the waiting room door. 

"Well, here goes nothing," Lindsey said before everyone followed Richard.


	103. Chapter 103

Chapter One Hundred and Four 

"Wow, that was fun," Mick said sarcastically while they walked into the first class car of the train. "I tell you, New York is just a whirlwind of fun. I'm so glad we got to see so much of it since there is so much." 

They waited till Richard sat down in one of the seats before Nefrure approached him. 

"I think I can help him," she said to everyone as she sat down beside him. "I just wanted to wait till we had some privacy. I will go into his mind and see if I can wake him up." 

Everyone watched while Nefrure put her fingers against Richard's temples and closed her eyes. While she did that, everyone got something to drink and sat down in the seats around her. Colbie sat down with Ken across from Richard, sipping a Fizz lemon lime soda while she watched Nefrure work with Richard. Sharon walked up beside them, a grape soda in her hand. 

"What is she doing?" Sharon asked Ken. 

"Going into Richard's mind. I think she's trying to break the hold Chris has on Richard's mind." 

"Do you think she can?" 

"If anyone can, she can do it or Nicodemus. The longer you're a vampire, the more powerful you are which is why she's the only one who can do this." 

They jerked their heads towards Richard when he gasped and moved around. Colbie grinned happily when Richard blinked in confusion before looking at Nefrure. 

"Thank you," he said to her. 

"You are welcome, Richard," she said while everyone else walked over to look at him. "However, I have not severed the link completely so we can follow Christine to wherever she is. Do you still feel her?" 

"Yes. And I can feel the tugging on my mind that happened when she latched on to me but it's not strong enough that I can't resist it anymore. But I can still follow where she wants me to lead." 

"Good. That is why I decided to leave some of the influence in place. That and if you meet her, you can pretend to be under their control still." 

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ken said. "Richard is a crappy actor." 

"I can play zombified, Cutlass." 

"Oh yeah, you can. Never mind." 

Colbie laughed when Richard tried to swat his head. 

"It is good to have you back though, buddy," Ken said. 

Richard smiled when everyone agreed with that. Nefrure smiled at that before she beckoned to Richard and told him she wanted to talk to him privately upstairs. Richard nodded and excused himself before he stood up and followed Nefrure upstairs. 

"I hope I have time to speak to you before the train starts," Nefrure said when she and Richard were by the beds. "I know that you are confused about why Christine picked your mind to latch on." 

"Yes." 

"I believe I have an explanation for that, Richard. And I have observed this from years of knowing you. You are an empath." 

Richard thought about that and nodded. 

"You are more in turn with your feelings and you are more in tune with the feelings of others. This is why you were relied on to be the therapist when you were a producer with Fleetwood Mac." 

"Yes, that's true." 

"Being an empath can be a blessing but can also be a curse because your energy is stronger, you are easier to latch on to by other people." 

Richard's eyes widened. 

"So Chris latched on to me because my energy was the strongest?" he said. 

"Yes. That is my thought. And that is why you were able to be controlled too. I would like you to start coming to see me and Nicodemus. We can teach you to shield your energy and your mind, not only from things like this but also from energy...vampires who look for empaths because they have a lot of energy to feed on." 

"I'd appreciate that. I'd love to be able to control my energy. Especially if it is getting me in trouble." 

"Well, when we return home, we will begin to teach you not only to shield your empath energy but how to use your ablilties most effectively." 

Richard nodded. Nefrure patted his shoulder before the two of them headed back downstairs.


	104. Chapter 104

Chapter One Hundred and Five 

By the time they got back downstairs, the train was ready to go. Everyone strapped themselves in to the chairs while the captain announced over the speaker that they were ready to leave for Trenton, New Jersey which would only be a half hour ride. 

"Darn, we can't go back to sleep then?" Lindsey said. 

The train began to pull out of the station. 

"So...when we get there, will Chris direct Richard on to Disney World?" Lindsey said. "I'd love to go to Disney World." 

"In all seriousness though, I do wonder if this is a wild goose chase," Richard said. 

"You don't think Chris is in New Jersey?" Lindsey said. 

"Not sure but I could see whoever is behind this doing what you suggest. We get there and Chris pulls me somewhere else." 

"To keep you from finding her?" Colbie asked. 

"Not sure, Colb," Richard said, looking at his girlfriend while she sat beside him. "Maybe Trenton is the final stop but if they're doing something to Chris, maybe they had her control me to get everyone to follow me and take us away from her." 

"I guess we'll find out when we get to New Jersey," Benjamin said. 

"I have a thought," Mick called out. 

"Yes?" Lindsey said. 

"If on the off chance, we do get to Trenton and Chris tells Richard to go somewhere else, I think we should just stay put and see what happens then. If this is a wild goose chase and we stay put, the puppet masters might panic if we're not moving around the country." 

"Maybe they'd send Chris personally to come get us," Benjamin said. "Save us time and money." 

"I don't know, I quite enjoy riding the train," Mick said. "Reminds me of my choo choo I had when I was but a lad." 

"Your choo choo?" Benjamin said, bemused. 

"Yes, my choo choo. I loved my choo choo. It's name was Stan." 

Lindsey rolled his eyes and shook his head when the two men snickered at that. Lindsey glanced over at Richard and was relieved to see him back to normal, although he was looking out the window beside him with a pensive look on his face. 

"Is Chris still leading you?" Lindsey asked him. 

"She's still here," Richard said, looking at him. "She's not really leading so much as pulling. It's like she's pulling my mind to where she wants me to be." 

"But you're not feeling like a zombie anymore, right?" 

"Not so far. I kinda wonder if Chris or her puppet masters suspect I'm not completely in their power. This whole thing could backfire, you know." 

"Yeah but we've come this far, we might as well go through with it before Chris ends up worse than she is now." 

Richard nodded. After ten minutes, the speed leveled off and they were allowed to get up and move about the train. When they did, Colbie came over to Richard and asked if she could speak with him privately upstairs. 

"Gosh willikers, I'm popular today," Richard quipped as he followed Colbie upstairs. 

When they got upstairs, Colbie looked around before embracing Richard. 

"I'm so glad you're back," she said softly while Richard held her. "I was terrified when no one could get a reaction out of you." 

"I saw you," Richard said softly. "I saw how upset you were and I wanted to say something or move but I couldn't. It was like Christine had my brain in a headlock or something. I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry I upset you so much. Believe me, I didn't' want to." 

"I know," Colbie said. "So you're going to go through with this whole pretend to be their slave thing?" 

"For the moment. I can't think of anything else. Unless this really is a wild goose chase and then I guess we really will have to think of something better. Why? You scared for me?" he said, bemused. 

"Well, yeah, you're my boyfriend. Course I'm scared." 

Richard smiled and hugged her tighter. 

"Do you want me to respond to that normally or melodramatically," he said to her. 

Colbie looked up at him and raised her eyebrow. 

"Normally," she said. 

"There, there," Richard said, rubbing her back. "I'll be alright, promise." 

Colbie waited and Richard fell silent again. She giggled. 

"Okay, melodramatically now," she said. 

Richard winked at her and led her back downstairs. Mick, Lindsey, Ken and Benjamin were playing cards at one table while Nefrure, Stevie and Sharon sat the other table talking softly. Colbie gave Richard a confused look then gasped when he suddenly mashed her body against his. 

"OH MY LOVE, WILL YOU WEEP FOR ME IF I PERISH," Richard bellowed while everyone stopped what they were doing and watched him. "I CANNOT ENDURE THE THOUGHTH OF YOU CRYING FOR EVEN ONE MILLISECOND, MY LOVE!" 

"Is there a reason why you're acting like an idiot, Richard?" Ken said. 

"I WILL COUNT THE MOMENTS UNTIL YOU'RE IN MY ARMS AGAIN, MY LITTLE COLBY CHEESE!" 

He fell silent and snickered when everyone in the room just stared at him. 

"Well, you wanted melodramatic," he said to Colbie. 

He patted her cheek affectionately and kissed it before he headed back upstairs.


	105. Chapter 105

Chapter One Hundred and Six 

After about a half hour, the train pulled into Trenton. Everyone looked at Richard, seeing what he would do next. Richard looked back at them and smiled. 

"What? Do you think I'm going to just suddenly start running or something?" he said. 

"Just trying to see if Chris is leading you somewhere," Lindsey said with a shrug. 

"Well, not so far. I suppose we'll have to exit the train and see what happens. I mean that's what happened last time, right?" 

They exited the train and entered the train station. Again, the train station was neat and clean and fresh smelling with no homeless people anywhere. Sharon looked around, impressed. 

"Wow, considering how movies portray vampires, you guys are very civilized and clean," she said to them. 

"Yes. We're a lot more than meets the fang," Lindsey said. "Get it, fang?" he added, nudging Stevie. "I said fang instead of eye since we're vampires and all." 

"Yes, Lindsey, I get it," Stevie said, annoyed. 

He pinched her cheek and grinned and Stevie gave him a wry smile in return. Then suddenly Richard began to walk away from them. 

"Being led everyone, follow me," he said over his shoulder. 

Everyone followed behind Richard, half expecting him to go to another ticket counter. This time though, Richard walked to the front entrance and stepped outside. 

"So no Disney World then," Lindsey said with mock disappointment. 

Richard stood there for a moment in silence. Everyone else looked at each other. 

"Are you confused about where to go?" Sharon finally asked him. 

"No, I think Chris is confused," Richard said. "I keep getting mixed signals." 

"Is it because Nefrure kinda lessened your link with her?" Colbie said. 

"Don't know. Very strange," Richard said, shaking his head. "She keeps wanting me to go right but then I get this impression she doesn't want me to. I think she's resisting to be honest. I think she knows I'll get captured or injured if I follow her so she's trying to resist." 

"But someone's making her do it anyway," Lindsey said. 

"I think so, yeah. That's why I basically keep getting turn right followed by no followed by turn right and on and on." 

"I think when we find these people, we should lobotomize them with a toothpick," Mick said. 

Richard remained still for a moment and then suddenly turned right and walked off. He glanced back over his shoulder at his friends and family. 

"I think Chris made up her mind everyone," he said to them. 

Everyone followed Richard while he walked along the sidewalk. Even though no one had a clue about where Richard was going, he walked as though he seemed sure of himself, although this time he wasn't doing it as a zombie. Richard walked purposefully but none of them had any idea where he was going or where they were. Still, while they walked, Stevie, Sharon and Colbie kept looking around, determined to do a bit of sightseeing while they were there. The city didn't look quite as big as LA and wasn't as impressive, although it did have several large glass or concrete buildings. But despite that, Stevie was excited to be in a different city. She only wished she could have seen New York before Christine forced Richard to come here. 

Richard stopped and everyone stopped behind him. He stood there for a moment and when he turned his head briefly, they could see a frown on his face. 

"What is it?" Stevie said. 

"She's resisting again," Richard said. "Another round of go this way, no don't. I think she knows she's putting me in danger at least and she's fighting it." 

"Can you help her the way you helped Richard?" Sharon asked Nefrure. 

"Perhaps. But first we need to find her. That is why I allowed her to have some control over Richard's mind so she would lead us to her. But it seems she still has enough willpower to resist whoever is trying to control her." 

"Which doesn't surprise me as stubborn as Chris gets sometimes," Mick said. 

Richard started walking again and everyone followed him. 

"So she's made up her mind then?" Ken said to Richard. 

"Um...apparently so, she's back to leading me on again," Richard said over his shoulder. 

They walked with Richard while Richard walked along the streets. Then suddenly, he turned and went down an alleyway. Everyone continued to follow him while Richard walked halfway down the alleyway and stopped. 

"Is she being indecisive again?" Mick asked. 

"No. Giving me instructions," Richard said over his shoulder. "There's a hidden entrance here." 

"Oh? To what? A sinister secret laboratory," Benjamin said. 

Richard turned to his right and walked to the concrete wall of the building beside him. He stood there and stared at it for a moment before he raised his hand and pushed on it. Everyone's eyes widened when a huge section of concrete opened inward, revealing a door. Richard looked at everyone with wide eyes. 

"Into the breach, dear friends?" he said to them. 

"After you, puppet on a string," Mick replied. 

Richard nodded and everyone followed him as he went inside.


	106. Chapter 106

Chapter One Hundred and Seven 

Everyone stopped just inside the doorway and watched as the door slid back. Once the door shut, several florescent lights clicked on overhead, bathing the room in white lights that reminded them of an office. They looked around but the room was empty. Across the room was another door but when Richard walked over and tried it, it was locked. 

"Kick it in?" Lindsey suggested. 

"I don't know. I'm afraid to think what might be behind it," Richard said, backing up. 

Stevie looked down below the door and noticed there was a crack between it and the floor. She had a thought, looked around and then morphed into mist. 

"Steves?" Lindsey said as Mist Stevie glided towards the door. 

Everyone watched while she eased through the crack and went to the other side. Once she was on the other side, she noticed that no lights kicked on but she could sense someone was in the room. She kept her mist form as she glided across the floor. When she neared the other person, she stopped and looked up. She was shocked to see Christine standing there, completely still, eyes on the door. She stayed there, watching her but Christine didn't move, not even her face or eyes. She just stood there like a mannequin, watching the door. Stevie figured she was waiting for Richard to walk through it before attacking. She turned to back under the door to report what she'd seen when she heard Christine call to her. 

"Stevie." 

Stevie paused and hovered near the door. 

"I know it's you, Stevie. You can change back now," Christine said. 

Bro, Christine's in here, Stevie thought to Richard. I tried to go back but she's stopping me. She wants me to change back to my usual self. 

Stevie, be careful. Christine might not be in her right mind. It might be a trap, Richard thought back. 

Stevie shapeshifted back into her original form. She backed up towards the door, hesitant about what her friend might do. 

"Chris, are you okay?" she asked. 

With her enhanced eyesight, she could see Chris clearly, even though they were in total darkness. Chris wasn't saying anything but she could see she was straining to speak and she guessed that someone was controlling her ability to speak freely. She heard Richard's voice in her mind asking her if she was alright. She thought back to him, telling him she was okay. There was a pause while Stevie stood in front of Christine. Then suddenly, Richard thought to her and told her to go through the door and try to bring Christine with her. Stevie thought back that she'd try and she backed up towards the door. To her relief, Christine started to follow her. 

"Don't resist, Stevie," Christine said in a dull voice. 

"Or what? What are you going to do to me, Chris?" 

"It's not what I will do; it's what my masters will do." 

Stevie telepathically related this to Richard and Lindsey while she stood her ground and tried not to look scared. She could see through the darkness that Christine had a blank look on her face while she slowly walked towards her. 

"I thought you wanted Richard," Stevie said as she continued to slowly back up. 

"He wants any of you," Christine said in a dull voice. 

"He? Who's he?" 

Christine didn't answer and Stevie figured she was being prevented from naming her kidnapper. She finally reached the door and slowly felt for the doorknob. 

"Stop," Christine said, sensing what she was doing. 

Stevie found the doorknob. With an apology to Christine, she turned the knob and flung herself backwards. She felt someone catch her and when she looked behind her, she saw Ken's face. She jerked her head back around when Christine came running out the door. Stevie stood with Ken and watched as the other vampires dogpiled Christine while Sharon backed up to Stevie's side. She, Stevie and Ken watched while Christine fought savagely and the others fought to restrain her. Christine managed to wiggle out of everybody's grip while she slapped, punched and scratched her friends. Stevie looked around for something to hit on her head and knock her out. Ken noticed her looking around and sensed what she was doing. He took her hand and when he got her attention, whispered to her. Stevie nodded and both of them stood there and watched the fight. She winced when Christine scratched her brother's cheek so hard she drew blood. Uncaring, she fought on. Ken put his hand on her shoulder and nodded. Stevie nodded and return and when Christine's back was to her, both she and Ken lunged forward, slamming both their fists into the back of her head. Christine grunted and was dazed. Seizing the opportunity, Nefrure moved forward, put her hands on Christine's temples and quickly put her to sleep. As soon as she was out, everyone relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. Stevie knelt down beside Richard, wanting to see how bad the scratches were but they were no longer there. Only dried blood remained as a clue that anything had happened. Ken helped Colbie up while Richard smiled at his sister. 

"Thanks for that, Sis. You and Cutlass managed to daze her enough that Nefrure could stop her," he said as he got to his feet along with everyone else. 

"What happens now?" Stevie said. "Can you still feel her?" 

"Not since she's been knocked out," Richard said, looking down at her. "I'm still not convinced her DNA has been altered. I think she's been brainwashed or hypnotized or something like that." 

"I agree," Lindsey said, walking up beside Stevie. "She doesn't seem to be different physically, just mentally. I was under the impression altering the DNA would have turned her into some hulking, brutish monster or something like the vampire in the Nosferatu movie. Some kind of demonic creature but she still looks like Chris to me." 

"Maybe we should get her out of here," Ken said. "If there is someone here, they probably know by now that Chris is out of commission and I say we hold off on fighting these people until we know what we're up against." 

Mick picked up Christine and cradled her in his arms. Everyone glanced back at the door before they hurried out of the building.


	107. Chapter 107

Chapter One Hundred and Eight 

On the way out of the building, Stevie kept glancing over her shoulder, expecting a group of people to pursue them. But there was no one apart from a few people walking along the sidewalk. Those people kept giving Stevie and the others odd looks when they saw Christine in their arms. 

"She's drunk," Richard finally said to one group who stopped on the sidewalk to watch them pass by. 

They took her to a nearby alley and walked over to a trash dumpster. Seeing the dumpster, Stevie got a sudden flashback of the simulation room and she shivered for a second. 

"Put her down," Nefrure said to them. "Let me see if I can work with her." 

The men nodded and laid her down on the ground behind the trash dumpster. Nefrure got down on her knees and put her fingers against Christine's temples, entering her mind. Everyone else stood around them, shielding them and standing guard. Sharon walked over to Stevie. 

"If these people do decide to attack, could you guys stop them?" she asked Stevie. 

"Dunno. Depends on how many there are and how powerful. I'm surprised no one tried to stop us. Unless no one but Chris was there to begin with." 

"So can Nefrure free her the way she freed Richard?" 

"I hope so. I'd hate to think some asshole permanently damaged Chris by doing some kind of weird experiment," Stevie said. 

Colbie walked up beside Stevie and beamed. 

"I was in a fight," she said. "First time ever." 

Sharon laughed when Stevie gave her a bemused look. 

"You always wanted to be part of a rumble, did you?" she said. 

"Yeah but mom never allowed it. Said it wasn't a girl thing to do. But I got in there and got me some," Colbie said. 

Ken walked up behind his daughter. 

"I'm sorry; I couldn't help but overhear how proud my daughter is that she was involved in a rumble. Should I be worried about the fact that you're so proud?" 

"Um...well, it was exciting," Colbie said, pretending to be sheepish. "I mean hitting things is...soothing. You hit something and stress just melts away." 

Stevie laughed when Ken just stared at his daughter before he finally put an arm around her. 

"I think we have to have a talk about your aggressive tendancies, hon," he said to Colbie. "Especially since I assume you'll be touring the vampire world eventually. Don't want you to become so feral that you leap into the front row and start beating the shit outta the audience midway through your concert." 

"It'd make my concerts interesting and set me apart from all the other performers out there." 

They heard a groan and watched while Nefrure helped Christine to her feet. Stevie was relieved when she saw Christine was back to normal, at least outwardly. Christine looked around at everyone and gave them a sheepish look. 

"I'm sorry, everyone," she said to them. 

"It's not like you had any control over it, dear," Benjamin said. "Someone was controlling you." 

"I could see you but I couldn't control myself. And I certainly didn't want to fight any of you." 

"We understand," Ken said. "And we saw the same thing happen to Richard when he was mesmerized." 

Christine sighed. 

"Richard, I'm really sorry," she said, walking over to him. 

"It's okay. It wasn't you doing it and Nefrure helped me the same way she helped you. You have nothing to apologize for." 

He smiled when Christine hugged him and he hugged her in return. Then he gasped and jerked back when Christine tickled his ribs. 

"Damn it, Chris," Richard said, laughing. 

"I can't help it if you're ticklish and I know it," Christine said innocently with a shrug. "You've been this way since I've met you." 

"Well, apparently you're back to normal," Mick said. 

"What happened?" Lindsey said. "Richard felt your fear and then you blanked out of his mind." 

Christine nodded. 

"I was ambushed from above," she said. "Whoever it was dropped down behind him and clubbed me on the head with something. I didn't even get time to turn around and look at the people before I was knocked out." 

"But did they actually alter your DNA, love?" Mick said. "I mean that's supposedly what happened to the others but all of us had trouble believing it." 

"I was drugged for a great deal of the time but I don't remember any machine," Christine said. "I believe I was hypnotized but not by a machine, just by these people somehow able to use something similar to the Voice on me." 

Everyone looked at each other. 

"Wait, someone figured out how to use the Voice on vampires?" Ken said. 

"Seems that way. I mean, like I said, I was drugged but I do remember someone speaking to me in an odd tone of voice and I blanked out." 

Everyone shared another look. 

"So, if that's true, anyone could hypnotize anyone," Benjamin. "No one would be safe from the Voice any longer." 

"We need to tell the authorities then," Lindsey said. "Before these people kidnap anyone else and turn them into psychos." 

Everyone nodded. Christine walked beside Stevie while everyone headed out of the alley.


	108. Chapter 108

Chapter One Hundred and Nine 

They found a hotel room near the hidden room and checked into several rooms for the night. The rooms had communication doors and everyone made sure to get rooms on the same side so they could keep the doors open and go in and out of each other's room. Richard roomed with Ken and both men were resting on their beds watching a vampire action movie when they heard a small knock on the communication door. They looked over and saw Christine. 

"Can I come in?" she said to them. 

"Sure," Richard said. "We're only watching Blood Sport but yeah, come right in." 

Christine walked over to Richard and sat down beside him on the bed. 

"Nefrure told me what happened and I'm sorry that you're the one that I ended up targeting," Christine said. 

"Chris, you weren't in your right mind. I know you didn't mean to do it," Richard said. 

"I know. I just feel bad that I got you caught up in this mess." 

"Hey, I'm just glad I had a link to you and we were able to track you down." 

"I scratched your face too, didn't I? I apologize for that as well." 

Richard chuckled. 

"It's okay. I think you scared Stevie though. I noticed when we finally knocked you out that she came over to check and by then it'd healed. I think she was expecting a huge gush of blood to run down my body." 

"Hey, I was affected, don't you have kind words for me?" Ken said. 

"Gee, someone's jealous suddenly," Richard said with a grin while Christine looked over her shoulder. 

Christine smiled, got up and sat down on the side of Ken's bed. 

"I'm sorry you were affected," she said. 

She patted his head, muttered " There, there," a couple of times before getting up and moving back to Richard's bed. Richard chuckled when Ken feigned annoyance. But Ken smiled when Christine sat back down beside Richard. 

"By the way, this whole fact that you are calm now like I am proves to me that your DNA wasn't altered. I think it's more plausible that someone figured out how to use the Voice on vampires and then maybe they went in while you were hypnotized and planted some suggestions and made you their slave. But I think if you're DNA were truly altered, Nefrure wouldn't have been able to stop you." 

"Do you think whatever's been done to me can be reversed?" Christine said. 

"Yes, I think so. Like I said, you're not acting feral so I think it was just hypnotic programming and I think Nefrure and Nicodemus can fix that." 

"Well, I hope they can sort you out then," Christine said. 

Richard grinned. 

"Nefrure thinks you latched on to me because I'm an empath and my energy extends out farther than normal because of that. Nefrure wants to work with me to teach me how to shield my energy so people can't latch onto it." 

"Really?" Ken said, getting up on his elbows to look at his friend. 

"Yeah. As soon as this mess is fixed, she wants me to come and see her and she'll teach me how." 

"And that's why Christine only latched onto you?" Ken said. 

"That's her theory." 

"You didn't know about this theory?" Christine asked Ken. 

"No, I had no idea." 

"I didn't tell anyone," Richard said. "But that's why Nefrure took me upstairs when we were on the train." 

"Where am I, by the way?" Christine said. 

"You don't know where you are?" Richard said, shocked. 

Christine shook her head. Richard looked at Ken. Ken sighed angrily and shook his head. 

"You're in Trenton, New Jersey," Richard said to Christine. 

Christine's eyes bulged. 

"They took me across the bloody country?" she said. 

"Yeah. Actually, we were going to New York first because another victim is there in the hospital but as soon as we got there, my mind got taken over and I was compelled to get a ticket to come here so everyone followed me." 

"Bloody hell. I'm going to kill whoever these bastards are. They've caused so much inconvenience," Christine said. 

She laid a hand on Richard's shoulder. 

"I'm glad I didn't do more than scratch your face, love," she said. "That would have killed me if I'd really injured you or God forbid killed you. I've liked you ever since I met you and we've always been best mates." 

"Yes, we have," Richard said, smiling. 

"And I don't want to endanger that friendship." 

"You wouldn't," Richard said, frowning. "I'll be your friend no matter what. Hell, you were a sister to me before I had an official sister so there's no way I'd ever stop being your friend." 

Christine smiled at that, bent down and kissed the tip of his nose. 

"Besides, you're ticklish and I like tickling you," she said. 

"Okay, now that might be grounds for termination of our friendship," Richard said, pointing at her. 

Christine chuckled and pinched his cheek. 

"Don't mind me; I'll just lay here on the bed picking lint out of my belly button." 

"Oh whaa whaa, Cutlass, excuse me while I play my violin for you," Richard said while Christine laughed. 

Christine grinned, got up, walked to his bed and sat back down. 

"And you're my mate as well," she said to him. "And I wouldn't want to endanger our friendship as well." 

"Chris, quit pandering to that baby. Let him wallow in his own crapulence and come back here." 

"Screw you, Dashut." 

Christine chuckled. She smoothed Ken's hair back. 

"You're not ticklish so I can't tickle you like the ticklebug over here," she said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder at Richard. "But you're sorta the more serious little brother whereas he's the jokester little brother." 

"Can't argue with that," Ken said. 

Christine kissed his cheek. 

"Well, I'll leave you two alone for now. Gotta go talk to Nefrure some more and get this sorted out. You two have a good night." 

"You too," Ken said. 

"Night, Christine," Richard added. 

Christine smiled, got up and walked out of the room. The two men watched her go before they turned their attention back to the TV.


	109. Chapter 109

Chapter One Hundred and Ten 

Richard lay on his bed trying to watch TV. Even thought it was still early in the morning, he felt himself drifting off. He thought it odd but then figured it was the stress of the past few days plus having his mind being taken over that had exhausted him. He thought about ordering some blood from room service but then realized he was too sleepy even for that. Eventually, he gave him and surrendered himself to sleep. 

"Buddy?" 

Richard frowned in his sleep when he heard someone talking and shaking his shoulders. The person called to him again and after thirty seconds, he was roused from sleep enough to open his eyes. Ken was sitting on the bed beside him, gently shaking him. 

"Buddy, you okay?" he said. 

"Yeah, what time is it?" 

"Just one in the morning. I've never seen you go to bed this early, not before you were mortal. Is everything okay?" 

"Yeah. Just exhausted," Richard said, sitting up. "I felt drained and I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Is Chris okay?" 

"Yes. In fact, I woke you up because I wanted to tell you that the rest of our family and friends and Nicodemus are here now." 

Richard's eyes went from half closed to fully open. 

"Seriously?" he said. 

"Yeah. Apparently, Mick was texting them all this time and they decided to come and help out. They took the train out here and they arrived about ten minutes ago. I went looking for you since I was out talking to Colbie and I come back to find you asleep. Like I said, earliest I've ever seen you asleep." 

"Yeah, I couldn't help it." 

"Do you feel better now?" 

Richard nodded. He got up and walked into the room on the right while Ken followed him. He noticed that everyone was sitting and standing in the room. Stevie saw him and waved before getting up and walked over to him. 

"Are you okay?" Stevie said to Richard when she reached him. "I could tell in my mind that you were asleep. It's really early." 

"I know. I just told Ken that I was exhausted and I couldn't stay awake. I'm better now." 

Stevie nodded and gave him a hug. Richard smiled and returned it. 

"Everyone else is here now," she said, gesturing to the others in the room. "Nicodemus is examining Chris and I think he wants to see you too eventually, to make sure you're okay." 

Richard nodded. He grinned when John walked over to him. 

"Hey, mate, glad to hear you're okay and Chris let up on you," he said to him. 

"Yeah well, Nefrure had a lot to do with that," he said to John. "Is Renny here too?" 

"No. Amber took him until we got back. Nadia is here though. She was thrilled to be going on a train ride. I think she's officially ours now. I don't think there's any way we're going to find her relatives and from what we can tell, no one's come forward to declare her missing." 

"Sad," Richard said, shaking his head. "I'm glad that she has us but all the same...surely she has other members of her family that care for her." 

"Maybe her parents had a falling out with the rest of the family," John said. "But we waited and watched and no one came forward asking for the safe return of someone matching Nadia's description. Truth be told, I think Nadia would rather have Stevie be her mum now. She kept asking about her and I think she's looking for you now, love," John added, looking at her. 

"To be honest, I missed her too. She's wormed her way into my heart," Stevie said. 

She smiled when Nadia finally spotted her and ran towards her with arms outstretched. Richard grinned when Stevie opened her arms and Nadia flew into them, hugging her tight. 

"Hello, Mommy," she said as she hugged her. 

"Hey, baby. Missed you," Stevie said, rubbing her back. 

Nadia tightened her hug in response to that. Richard chuckled. 

"So I'm an uncle now, I guess," he said to John. 

"And a dad since everyone's co-parenting," Ken said. 

"So...I'm my own grandpa?" Richard said. 

Stevie laughed when Ken tried to swat his head and he quickly moved out of the way. He walked over t Mick and stood beside him. 

"Ah, a shady spot at last," Richard said. 

Mick gave him a bemused look. 

"You think I'm that tall, do ya?" 

"Compared to me, you are," Richard said. "So...since everyone's here, are we going to try to go after the jerks who took Chris?" 

"Not sure yet. We have alerted the authorities and they're going to go check it out, I think. Although, if I were them, I'd be packed and on the train to another city by now." 

"Agreed. Unless they weren't there to begin with." 

"They just left Chris there to do everything on her own?" Mick said to him. 

"I don't know, I keep thinking this whole thing is more like a test or an experiment. To see what these brainwashed people would do if they were on their own. I'm thinking that maybe we should go back to New York and talk to Jessica still, find out if her experience is the same as Chris and if she saw a machine or was just drugged and heard something like the Voice. If this person or people are trying to perfect the Voice so it'd work on vampires, then they could be taking people at random and trying it out and making these people lure their friends and family to them to see if they'll attack them or not." 

Mick thought that over and nodded. 

"I think you may be right, mate. I think what you're saying makes sense. Seems strange that no one was there with Chris. Maybe this is a test, like you said. If so, Chris seems to have failed it." 

"Well, Jessica too since someone seems to have snapped her out of it also," Richard said. 

"I think you're right. We need more information. Come on, mate, let's take this to Nicodemus and see what he says." 

Richard nodded and followed Mick while they went to find Nicodemus.


	110. Chapter 110

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven 

Richard and Mick found Nicodemus in Stevie and Lindsey's room. He was sitting on Lindsey's bed with Christine, speaking to her quietly. Christine looked over when Richard and Mick came in and smiled. 

"Hey guys," Richard said. "Can we talk to you, Nicodemus?" 

"Sure, my friends, come in," Nicodemus said. "I was just working with Christine and I believe I have freed her from the mind control. Richard, I want to look at your mind and see if something needs to be done, if you do not mind." 

"No, go ahead," Richard said as he and Mick sat on Stevie's bed. 

Mick told him what Richard had said while Nicodemus and Christine listened quietly. When they finished, Nicodemus nodded. 

"That might be a good idea," he said. "I tried to see into Christine's memories, to see if I could find a memory of one of her kidnappers but everything was fuzzy when she was awake. They had her heavily drugged so perhaps speaking to this other woman might give us some answers." 

"But you don't think her DNA's been altered?" Richard said. 

"I would not know that for sure without a test and we can do that when we return home. My guess though is as you said. She was hypnotized by someone to act savage." 

"But if this really is some test of the Voice, it's not working well enough," Mick said. "I mean, unless they don't care that someone can go into the mind and reverse it." 

"Maybe that's why all the tests," Richard said. "They're still working on perfecting it and maybe with each new stage, they kidnap someone, try the Voice and see how well it works." 

"Perhaps then it is best to leave here and go to New York," Nicodemus said. "If the kidnappers are still here, it might be wise to put some distance between them and us." 

Richard and Mick nodded. They looked at the communicating door and smiled when Nadia peeked into the room. Nicodemus and Christine looked where they were looking and smiled at her. Christine beckoned to her and Nadia grinned, ran to her and cuddled with her on the bed. 

"And obviously, you're not attacking Nadia so I still don't think your DNA's been altered," Richard said. 

"Oh, but it has," Christine said. 

Richard frowned. 

"It has?" he said. 

"Yes. I have an uncontrollable urge to..." 

She looked at him and her eyes widened. 

"Tickle you," she said in a deep, soft voice. 

"You do, McVie and I'll use the Voice on you and make it stick!" Richard said while Mick chuckled. 

"Tickle him?" Nicodemus asked Christine. 

Christine chuckled. 

"He's ticklish and I found that out early after I first met him," she said to Nicodemus while she pointed to Richard. "I used to tickle him at random times. Not only did I get a laugh but it lightened the mood when we really needed it. Ken, however, is not ticklish or if he is, he's good at hiding it." 

"He's not," Richard said. "Although he's prone to a good slap in the head from time to time." 

"Ooo, I heard that," Stevie said, outside the door. "I'm gonna tell Ken you said that, Bro!" 

"You do and I'll be slapping your head next, Sis!" 

Stevie grinned and leaned her head in. 

"Still feel sleepy?" she asked him. 

"No, not anymore. I think I needed a quick pick-me-up nap. I think my batteries were depleted," Richard said. 

"Do you need some blood? Maybe you're low on that too," Stevie said. 

"Yeah, I suppose I do need that also. I was going to call room service but in the end I was too tired to even do that." 

"Maybe we should call down and order some then," Stevie said. "And whatever drinks the mortals want but if we're gonna do this, we need to keep our strength up." 

"I agree, love. Go ahead and make the call and I'll pay for it, my treat," Mick said. 

Stevie nodded. Richard settled back but his eyes widened when his hearing picked up Stevie telling Ken about his threat to slap him in the head. 

"Damn you, Sis!" he yelled out while Stevie laughed. 

There was silence for a few seconds and then Ken entered the room. 

"Got something to say to my face, Da-slut?" he said to him. 

"Da-slut? That's pretty good, Cuntlass," Richard said. "I applaud your imagination there." 

"Cuntlass? Ooo, that's offensive Da-slit, for shame," Ken said, walking over to him. 

"Hey, you stay away from me," Richard said, pointing to him. 

Ken grinned and morphed into wolf shape. He licked his chops as he slowly came towards Richard. 

"I mean it, Dumb butt, stay away from me," he said while Mick snickered. 

"Doggy!" 

Ken froze when Nadia slid off the bed and walked over to him. He stood there while Nadia ooed and ahhed and petted him. 

"Ooo, this is nice, I need to do this more often now that we have a doggy loving child in the house," Ken said while Nadia stroked him. 

"Good doggy," Nadia said, petting him. 

The vampires in the room chuckled when Ken rose up on his hind legs and assumed the begging position before he rolled over on his back and spead his legs out, letting Nadia rub his belly. 

"You know," Ken said, looking up at them. "We could stay permanently in wolf form and then allow the child to think she was raised by a wolf pack." 

"No, thanks, I enjoy being human," Richard said. 

He smiled when Nadia petted and played with Ken while he leapt around her and playfully nudged her. 

"Yup, I think having a child in the house will definitely be a good thing," Mick said as Nadia played with Wolf Ken.


	111. Chapter 111

Chapter One Hundred and Twelve 

After a while, everyone left Stevie and Lindsey's room and Stevie and Lindsey moved into it. They lay on one bed, Lindsey watching TV while Stevie lay beside him and read a book. While she read, she felt her brother's surprise in her mind and she lowered the book. 

"Linds, you feel that?" she said to Lindsey. 

"Feel what, hon?" 

"Richard. He was shocked for a couple of seconds but it's gone now," Stevie said. 

Lindsey chuckled. 

"Probably walked in on Ken taking a shower or something," he said with a wink. 

Stevie was about to telepathically ask Richard about it when he showed up at their communication door. He rapped his knuckles on the door frame and grinned at them. 

"Hello, need an opinion because Ken is no help right now," Richard said to them. 

"Why?" Lindsey said. 

"He's laughing at me." 

"What was with the surprise?" Stevie said to him. "I was about to come and ask you about it." 

"Well, that's partly why I'm here. Colbie came into my room was me and Ken were watching TV. She...wants to do the naming ritual tonight." 

Lindsey's eyebrows raised and he rose up on his elbows. 

"Here? In the middle of all these people?" he said. 

"Yeah. I told her that but she doesn't care. So now Ken is teasing me, asking me if he gets to watch since it's his room too." 

"Are you going to?" Stevie said. 

"Do you think I should? I mean, I suppose we could, although I was thinking when we did it, it would be something more intimate than here and certainly not with her father in the room." 

"Do you have everything you need?" Stevie asked. 

"Not really. But I thought about it and I suppose I can ask the concierge for help with getting the items I need." 

"What do you need?" Stevie asked. 

"Well, there are different rituals you can do but what I have in mind, I need a special kind of edible ink, a couple of paintbrushes, two mugs, some special tea and a special type of chocolate you can write on." 

"Chocolate you can write on?" Stevie said. 

"There is a ritual where you write the new name on a small piece of chocolate and if the person accepts the new name, they eat the chocolate and symbolically make the name a part of their body." 

"Oh," Stevie said, intrigued. "And that's why you need the edible ink?" 

"That and there is a spell you paint on the person's body. The ink is for that too." 

"Paint on the body? Sounds kinky," Stevie said. 

"Yeah. You write on the body in Ashkaddian. It's supposed to be a purifying spell. Don't know if it really purifies anything but it's the ritual that counts." 

"It's more symbolic than anything," Lindsey said. "Everything has a special ritual attached to it. It's supposed to be very intimate." 

"But apparently not for Colbie," Richard said. 

"She might be nervous," Lindsey said. 

Richard nodded. 

"I think so too. I think that's why she wanted to turn with all of us there. I don't think it's that she trusts me; I just think she's more comfortable with others around. " 

"Are you comfortable with it?" Stevie asked. 

"Yeah, I can do it with others watching, I'm just surprised she wants to," Richard said. 

"Well, I think you should do it here. It'll be very educational for the mortals," Stevie said. 

Richard grinned. 

"So, in other words, you want it to be like one of those teaching hospitals where the students gather around the bed and listen while the Doctor gives his diagnoses," he said. 

"And take photos," Lindsey said. 

They looked over when Ken entered the room with Diane. 

"Ought oh, here come the parents," Lindsey said. 

"Hi, parents, has Colbie said anything," Richard said to them. 

"I think she still wants to go ahead with it," Ken said. 

"With you guys in attendance?" Richard said. 

"Yeah, I think she wants everyone to share in the experience," Ken said. "Which I found a bit odd considering I would think she'd want to have a night of passion along with it but maybe she's not thinking of that yet." 

"Just out of curiosity, she has had a night of passion before, I mean, she is thirty one," Richard asked Diane. 

"I think so. She dated a couple of people and I think one of them for sure but that was in her twenties." 

"She never experimented in high school?" Ken asked. 

"You mean with sex or drugs or booze?" Diane said to her. 

"Yeah." 

"Not to my knowledge. If she did, she hid it well. But she was a good student, on the honor roll, so if she was getting plastered on the side, she managed to keep her grade point average up." 

"Ah, that's my Coco, a great student and a fabulous singer," Ken said with a sigh. 

"What about you? Did you do wild things when you were a teen?" Stevie asked Ken. 

Richard snickered when Ken pretended to be evasive about the question. Diane chuckled and patted his back. 

"I did experiment a bit but not to the point I was doing it every day. I tried pot and liquor at a couple of parties and as for sex...I...may have had a wee bit of underage sex in high school." 

"Define "Wee"," Lindsey said. 

"It was a quickie behind the bleachers next to the football field at nine at night?" 

"Wow, I'm glad you didn't do that to me at Dodger's Stadium," Diane said. "I think I would have slapped you silly if you'd tried to do it with me behind the bleachers." 

"Okay, well, I'm glad I never tried it then," Ken said while everyone laughed.


	112. Chapter 112

Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen 

After awhile, Richard went down to the concierge in the lobby. Stevie followed him, curious about what he was going to ask for. Richard was bemused by that. 

"Planning on a renaming ceremony yourself, Sis?" he asked when they got in the elevator. 

"I'm still curious about all things vampire," Stevie with a shrug. 

"You still glad you turned then?" 

"Definitely." 

"So, you want to know what this is about?" 

"Well, just what do you need? I mean you told me basically what you need but what is it all for?" 

"You're not going to watch? I mean, if Colbie wants to do this, I suppose she's inviting an audience to watch her." 

"I'd like to but not if I'm going to be too intrusive." 

Richard chuckled as the elevator doors opened. 

"I appreciate that but if everyone else is going to watch, you might as well join in," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. 

They walked over to the lobby counter and Richard asked for the concierge. The female nodded and asked him to wait while she walked off to get him. A few minutes later, a middle aged man dressed in a tuxedo with dark hair slicked back came up to the counter. He had a rough looking, severe face but he smiled warmly at Richard and Stevie and was extremely friendly. Stevie listened while her brother asked if he could have someone deliver some items to their room before naming specifically what he needed. The more he named off the items, the wider the concierge's smile got until Richard finished and he finally asked him if he was going to do a renaming ceremony. 

"Yes. Not me, my girlfriend," Richard said. 

Richard laughed at Stevie's surprised expression when the man looked right at her. 

"No, this is my sister," Richard said. "My girlfriend is upstairs." 

"My apologies. Yes, we can have someone get you these items and have them delivered to you. Just leave me your room number and you can pay the person when he brings them to you." 

Richard nodded. He left his name and room number and thanked the man before he and Stevie headed back upstairs. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

A half hour later there was a knock at the door. Mick opened it and called for Richard when he learned it was the hotel delivery boy. Richard thanked the boy and paid for the items with his credit stick in addition to giving him a ten credit tip. The boy thanked him and handed him a large paper bad with the top folded over. He took it over to the bed and everyone gathered around him while he opened it. He took out a small jar filled with black ink, two small black paintbrushes, two brown, glazed porcelain mugs, chocolate wrapped in a silver wrapper and a small burlap bag that had what Stevie guessed was the tea inside it. Richard excused himself, walked over to a portable kettle and boiled some water before bringing the kettle to the bedside table. 

"So, you're going to use all this stuff in this ritual?" Karen asked. 

"Yes. You'll see how it all fits together." 

He looked around the room at everyone and then at Colbie. 

"Did you want to do this now?" he asked her. 

"Ready when you are," she said. 

"Okay, gather round and..." 

He let out an "Oof" when Ken slammed into his back and peered over his shoulder. 

"Okay, I'm ready to observe now," he said while everyone laughed. 

"What the hell? Are you going to tie yourself to me or something?" Richard said to him. 

"Just making sure everything's on the up and up with my daughter," Ken said before backing away. 

Richard looked over his shoulder and raised his eyebrow while everyone laughed harder. He turned his attention back to Colbie who was now sitting on the bed in front of him and gasped when he felt a finger in his ribs. He snapped his head back around and saw Christine grinning at him. 

"For luck," she said before tickling his ribs. 

"Gah!" Richard said, crab walking to the left to get away from her fingers. He grinned and walked back to the bed, sitting down beside Colbie. He glanced around at everyone gathered around the bed before he asked Colbie to lay back. Colbie lay back and put her head on the pillow. He poured the hot water into the mugs and opened the sack, sprinkling a small handful of tea leaves in each cup. He allowed it to seep while he opened the chocolate. The chocolate was white chocolate and Richard opened the jar of ink and used one of the paintbrushes to paint the name he'd chosen onto the chocolate. Stevie watched him, amazed that the ink was sticking so well to the chocolate. When she commented on that, Richard nodded. 

"It's made in such a way that it does allow the ink to seep in and stay there so you can write on it. I'm not sure how but this chocolate is made for this purpose." 

"But does it taste like ordinary chocolate?" Amy asked. 

Richard nodded. He broke off a small piece of it and handed it to her. Amy tried it and nodded her approval at how good it tasted. 

"Let me see if I need any more of this and if I don't, you guys can have the rest of the chocolate," Richard said. 

He finished painting the name on the chocolate and turned it over so no one could see it. He then got comfortable beside Colbie. 

"Now..." 

Richard trailed off and glanced around him at the room full of people while Colbie laughed. 

"Go on, we're listening," Mick said with a twinkle in his eye. 

"Are we also having sex tonight in front of everyone?" Richard asked Colbie. "That's a part of it too." 

"Nah, not while my parents and sister are in the room." 

"Why not? Dad might be able to give you some tips," Morgan said. 

Everyone laughed when Ken's mouth dropped open and he looked back at his daughter. 

"Hush, you," Ken said while the others laughed harder. "I'm not gonna sit here and referee this thing. So, Richard, anytime you're ready." 

Richard turned his attention back to Colbie. 

"So...the first part of the ritual involves a cleansing ceremony," Richard said to Colbie. 

"You mean, jump in the shower?" 

Richard looked around at everyone when they laughed. 

"Why not?" Mick said. "Since we're all here..." 

Richard shook his head. 

"Okay, lift your shirt so your tummy's exposed," Richard said to Colbie. 

Colbie lifted her shirt up to just below her breasts. Richard sat beside her and stared down at her belly before he dipped a paintbrush in the ink. He got rid of the excess ink in the pot and then he leaned over towards Colbie's belly. Everyone leaned in to watch while he began to paint a series of hieroglyphs across her stomach. He painted slowly and carefully while Stevie tried to read what he was writing. 

"Weird," Sharon said softly to Stevie. "The vampire world is complicated." 

"Yes but that's why I love it so much," Stevie said. 

He finished writing and put the paintbrush in the ink. Stevie leaned over to read it while Sharon leaned in with her. 

"Hmm, that's interesting," Stevie muttered as she read. 

"What? Damn it, Stevie, it sucks that you can read the vampire stuff and I can't," Sharon said. 

"Sorry. It comes automatically when you change," Stevie said with a shrug. 

"Okay," Richard said, looking around at the mortals as he pointed to Colbie's stomach. "This is a spell. Supposedly an ancient Egyptian spell which is what Ashkaddian is derived from. It's a purifying spell. It's supposed to make you pure so you can enter into the next phase of your life without any baggage. Like I said before, I don't know if it works but this is a part of the ceremony. So now I have to say it aloud in Ashkaddian for it to work but I'll repeat what I said in English for the undead impaired in our group." 

"Oh ha ha, Richard," Karen said while the vampires sniggered. 

He then began to intone aloud in Ashkaddian. Stevie smiled, knowing what he was saying. She glanced at Sharon and noticed she was listening intently. She guessed Sharon was listening to the musicality of the language like she did before she understood it. 

Richard finished and then cleared his throat before he repeated in English. 

"To the gods and goddesses, grant this person a new beginning. Make her soul as pure as linen and let her leave her troubles in the past forever more." 

"Pretty," Sharon said to Stevie who nodded. 

"Okay, so moving on to the next step then," Richard said.


	113. Chapter 113

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen 

"So...that's the first part of it," Richard said. 

"So do I leave this stuff on my body or do I go and wash it off?" Colbie asked, pointing to the glyphs. 

She frowned when Richard shared a look with her father and her father snickered. 

"Well...if we were by ourselves, I would lick it off you," Richard said sheepishly. 

Ken chuckled when Colbie blushed at that. 

"But you can wash it off when we finish," Richard said quickly. 

"Sure? We would like the full naming ceremony experience, you know," Mick said. 

"Well, you can take it up with her parents since they're both right here," Richard said over his shoulder. "Until then, I'll refrain from licking her. Anyway, the next part of the ceremony is the actual name. So...you have the option to reject the name I'm thinking of and come up with your own but if you want the name, you eat the chocolate," he said, grabbing the chocolate from the table, "and that will show everyone that you want to be known by that name." 

Colbie nodded. Richard handed her the chocolate and Colbie looked at the name written on it. 

"Latara?" she said, looking at him. 

Richard nodded. The vampires in the room murmured in agreement while the mortals looked confused. 

"Okay, what's Latara mean if it means anything?" Sharon said. 

"It means "Cherished," Richard said. "So, if you like that name, you eat the chocolate and make the name a part of yourself." 

Colbie grinned and ate the chocolate amid the cheers of the others in the room. 

"So, Latara, I have one more ritual if you want to participate. It's separate from the naming ceremony. This one has to do with us being a couple. Do you want to do this one?" 

Colbie nodded and Richard checked the cups of tea to make sure they were ready. He took a small sip of one and nodded. 

"Okay, you guys can have the chocolate and tea now, I don't need them anymore," Richard said to everyone. 

He turned his attention back to Colbie while Sharon took the chocolate and took a piece and passed it around. He gave one cup to Colbie and kept one for himself. 

"So...what we do is we put a bit of blood in our mugs and then we give the mugs to each other and we drink the tea." 

"With our blood in it?" Colbie said. 

"Yes. It's to symbolize that you are a part of me and I'm a part of you." 

"Will I get herpes from your blood?" 

Everyone laughed at the incensed look on Richard's face. 

"I don't think so, dear. I can't get sick anymore and neither can you," he said while Colbie giggled. 

"Yeah but won't drinking your blood do something to me, like turn me into a vampire all over again." 

Everyone laughed when Richard gave her an odd look. 

"How can you become a vampire when you're already a vampire, explain that one to me," Richard said. 

"It's just that I die again and wake up an even bigger vampire than before?" 

"Um...no," Richard said while his friends and family laughed harder. "I don't think it's possible for you to become more of a vampire than you are now. My blood won't harm you, trust me." 

"So...how do we put the blood in the cup?" 

Richard said nothing. In response, his fangs elongated and he bit his wrist. Colbie watched while he let a few drops fall in his tea before he pulled his wrist away. 

"That's one way," Richard said. 

"Does that hurt?" Colbie said, making a face. 

"Not that bad and you heal almost instantly. See?" he said, holding up his healed wrist to her. 

Colbie looked around and then healed out her wrist to Ken. 

"Dad, can you do it? I'm squeamish." 

Everyone laughed when Ken gave his daughter a bemused look. 

"So I take it, you'll never be turning anyone then," he said to his daughter. 

He elongated his fangs, took his daughter's wrist and gently bent into it. Colbie grimaced while Ken kissed her wrist before letting go. 

"So, what's the difference between him doing it and you?" Richard said. 

"I just feel a bit weird biting into my own wrist, that's all, 

Colbie said. 

"And it's okay for your dad to do it though?" Richard teased. 

Colbie shrugged. She started to put her blood drops in her tea when she realized in the time she'd been talking, her wrist had healed. Everyone laughed when she sheepishly had to ask her father to bite her wrist again. Then as soon as he did, she very quickly put the blood in her cup while Richard grinned. 

"Okay, so...we exchange cups," Richard said. 

He handed her his mug and she handed him hers. 

"So...what this is about is the two of us pledge ourselves to each other and we drink the tea with our blood in it to symbolize our union. So...anything you'd like to say?" 

Colbie looked around before clearing her throat. 

"Well, despite the fact that you're twice my age, you're handsome and funny and I love being around you and I'm glad you gave me my new name. I love it. And...that's all I can think to say." 

"Well," Richard said. "I also think you're beautiful, funny and extremely talented. Granted, I never thought I'd be dating Cutlass's daughter but I'm glad you approached me because I also enjoy being with you." 

He fell silent and told Colbie that if she wanted him, to drink her tea. Colbie smiled and drank while Richard drank his. Everyone applauded when he finished and Richard looked around. 

"It's official. Latara and me are a couple now," he said to everyone before they congratulated both of them.


	114. Chapter 114

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen 

After the ceremony, Stevie followed Lindsey back to their room. They lay together on one bed and cuddled while they watched TV. While they were doing that, Stevie saw someone peeking into the room through the communicating door and turned her head and smiled when she saw Nadia watched them. 

"Come here, hon, you can lay on the bed beside us," Stevie said while Lindsey turned his head and smiled at the sight of her. 

"Okay, Mommy," Nadia said, walking over to the unoccupied bed and lying down on it. 

Stevie watched her, figuring she was going to come and cuddle with them but without a few minutes, she was fast asleep. Stevie and Lindsey looked at each other, got up and Lindsey gently picked Nadia up while Stevie drew back the covers. They put her to bed, tucked her in and gave her kisses on the cheeks before they lay back down in their bed. 

A half hour later, Sharon peeked into the room and cleared her throat. Stevie smiled and beckoned to her to come in. Sharon glanced at Nadia, smiled when she saw her sleeping peacefully and carefully walked around the bed towards her friend. 

"Hey, Shar. If you don't have a place to sleep, you can sleep with Nadia," Stevie said. "Lindsey and me will be up all night, you know." 

"Thanks. But I have something I need to tell you," Sharon said. 

"Yeah?" 

"Lori left me a message. She wanted to talk to me about you," Sharon said. 

Lindsey looked at her and raised his eyebrow. 

"About my disappearance?" Stevie said. 

"I think so. She's been very worried. I still have an urge to tell her the truth but not if it's going to upset you," Sharon said, sitting down on the edge of the bed at Stevie's feet. 

"I'm just concerned about Chris. I don't mind Lori knowing and I suppose even Jessie's okay but Chris worries me." 

"You think he'd try to hunt you down?" Sharon said. 

"I'm not sure. But he's never liked Lindsey much and I'm sure he'd accuse Lindsey of somehow brainwashing me into turning which he didn't," she said while Lindsey snorted softly. "I just don't want him finding out where we are and coming there every moment, trying to convince me to leave or try to hurt or kill one of my friends or family. That's why I was hesitant about telling Lori or Jessie because I didn't want them to have to keep this from Chris. I'm sure they would but just the same...but...I finally revealed myself to you because you were worried about my purse and I figured you'd start digging deeper and finally learn the truth." 

"Well, to be honest, I was scared some deranged fans had broken in somehow and taken it," Sharon said. "I never thought it was you but all the same, I'm glad you did tell me. I'm glad to be here. After getting used to the weirdness of it all, I'm glad that everyone is pretty much the way they've always been. And I'm glad you guys are giving Nadia a home and not wanting to turn her into a vampire." 

"They told me they don't do that because what happened to Claudia in Interview with the Vampire happens here. They don't want her growing up and becoming an adult in a child's body." 

"I agree," Sharon said. 

"And it's her choice anyway," Lindsey said. "We'd never force her to become a vampire if she didn't want to be one." 

"Especially since you guys were forced." 

Lindsey nodded. 

"Anyway, I thought I'd give you a head's up, Stevie, since Lori's been insistent I call her back." 

"Can you do it here while we listen?" Stevie said. "I'm curious to hear what she has to say." 

Sharon nodded. She stood up, fished her cell phone out of her pocket and turned it on. She checked the time before calling Lori. She sat down at the foot of the bed while Stevie and Lindsey watched her. 

"Hello?" Stevie heard Lori say. 

"Hey, Lori, how's it going?" Sharon said. 

"Okay. Just keeping my eyes glued to the TV and any updates about Stevie. I wish I knew what happened to her." 

Sharon made eye contact with Stevie. 

"If you want to tell her, go ahead," Stevie mouthed to her. 

"Have you heard anything? Have they said anything?" Sharon said to Lori. 

"Nothing lately, they're still trying to find her," Lori said. "Where are you? You at home?" 

Sharon looked at Stevie and Stevie grinned. 

"Actually, no, I'm...in New Jersey." 

"New Jersey? Why the hell are you there?" Lori said. 

"Um...helping some friends out." 

"With what? And why would you go to New Jersey to help friends? I didn't know you knew anyone in New Jersey." 

"I don't but we had to come here." 

"Why?" 

Sharon paused for a moment while Stevie fought to keep from laughing. 

"Why?" Sharon repeated. 

"Yeah, why. Why are you in New Jersey." 

"Um..." 

Stevie giggled and sat up. 

"Give me the phone, Shar, I'll put you out of your misery," she said softly to Sharon. 

"Sharon, you there?" Lori said. 

"Yeah, hang on, someone wants to talk to you," Sharon said. 

"Oh, okay..." Lori said. 

Sharon handed the phone to Stevie. Stevie looked at Lindsey. Lindsey grinned and Stevie gave his shoulder a playful shove. Stevie took a deep breath. 

"Hello, Lori," she finally said. 

There was dead silence on the other end. 

"Stevie?" Lori finally said. 

"Yeah. Hi, Lori." 

More dead silence so Stevie cleared her throat. 

"I'm fine. And I haven't been abducted. At least I was rescued from my abductors," Stevie said. 

"Where are you?" 

"New Jersey, like Sharon said." 

"What the fuck are you doing in New Jersey? And why haven't you told anyone you were still alive?" Lori said angrily. "Everyone's been worried sick about you, Stevie." 

"I know, Lori. But there's a very good explanation for why I haven't called you," Stevie said. 

"Oh? And why is that?" 

Stevie winced when she heard the biting anger in her tone of voice. 

"Look, Lori, just trust me, okay? This is something that needs to be discussed face to face but at the moment, I'm in New Jersey and I need to go to New York and take care of some business. But I promise I'll tell you the whole truth. Just...don't tell Chris or Jessie yet, okay?" 

"Why? Don't you want them to know?" 

"Not before I come back. Trust me; this is Earthshaking, what I have to say to you." 

"Um...okay, I guess. I'll keep this conversation to myself then." 

"Thank you. I promise I'm alright. I'm not being held captive and I'm not in any pain or distress." 

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." 

"Just trust me, Lori." 

"Okay, just call me and let me know what's going on, alright?" 

"I will and I'll be home soon, I promise. But I'll give the phone back to Sharon now." 

"Okay. Just stay safe, Stevie, and keep in touch." 

"I will. I'll talk to you later, Lori." 

She said her goodbyes and handed the phone back to Sharon. While Sharon spoke to Lori, Stevie looked at Lindsey. 

"Yeah, this'll be fun once we get back home," she said to him.


	115. Chapter 115

One Hundred and Sixteen 

Richard lay with Colbie on his bed while Ken snuggled with Diane on his. Colbie kept glancing at her parents and giggling softly. Richard finally looked at her after the twentieth time she giggled. 

"What's with you, Latara?" he asked her. 

"Just wondering if we should have sex right here," Colbie said. 

She laughed when Ken and Diane rose up on her elbows and looked at her. 

"You're really becoming a wild child, aren't ya?" Ken asked. "Dating an older man, tattoo, renaming ceremony and now sex in front of the parents." 

"You only live once," Colbie said, shrugging. 

She laughed when Ken gave her a wry look while Diane chuckled. 

They looked at the communicating door when Mick suddenly ran in, bent over, pointed at his ass and ran back out. 

"Ought oh, the insanity's beginning," Richard said. 

"What was that about?" Colbie said to her father. 

"That...my dear, was Mick being Mick," Ken said. "He must be bored. He and Richard both get like that when they get bored." 

Colbie jerked her head around when Richard suddenly yelled "BWAAAAAAAAAA!" before falling silent again." 

"See, he does the same thing," Ken said while Diane giggled. 

Mick looked into the room. 

"She doesn't have her clothes off yet?" Mick asked Richard. 

"Nah, she's just chillin' like a villain," Richard said, looking at him. "That's how it is when you roll with me." 

Mick grinned when Ken snorted at that. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Christine lay with John on a bed in their hotel room. John smiled as he ran his index finger down her right cheek. 

"So good to have you back, Chrissy," he said softly. "I missed you. I'd hate to think what would happen if I lost you after losing you back in the 70's. 

"I'm sorry I upset everyone," Christine said, stroking his face. 

"Wasn't your fault, love. It wasn't like you set out with the intention of being kidnapped." 

"I know but not only did I pull you lot into this I somehow managed to hypnotize Richard as well." 

"And that threw him for a loop," John said. "He had no idea why he was chosen." 

"I think it's because I've been close to him since we started working together," Christine said. "When you and me started having our troubles, I always turned to him for advice and just to feel better. He was always there for me in times of trouble..." 

"So you think you might have reached out to him during this time of trouble," John said. 

Christine nodded. 

"Maybe I thought he could protect me. At least give me support like he always has. I'm just glad Nefrure was able to free him from my mind control." 

"We still need to find out what this is about though," John said. "We need to stop whoever's doing this before they strike again." 

"I know and I wish I could help with that but I honestly don't know who kidnapped me. I was knocked out and pretty much drugged from start to finish. I know there was more than one though because I could hear them talking behind closed doors. Unless there was just one schizophrenic bloke behind it all. But I'm glad to be back here with everyone now. Safe at last." 

John nodded. He reached up and put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. Christine positioned herself on her stomach and the two of them snogged, grateful to be together again. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Amy, Lucy, Karen and Sharon were sharing a room together. Amy and Lucy were in one bed while Karen and Sharon were in the other. Sharon had told them about Lori's phone call and the fact that Stevie had finally spoken to her plus Stevie's fears about her brother. Karen snorted at that. 

"I don't blame her. I wouldn't want him to know either," Karen said. "I've never really liked him that much. He always seemed a bit arrogant and I know he's jealous of Stevie and her success. I think he's one of those people that always tries to measure up to their older siblings and feels anger when they haven't quite done that. Chris has been successful in his own way but not like big sister. And he's never been crazy about Lindsey, especially when he and Stevie were going at it back in the 70's" 

"Stevie told me he was always trying to get in the middle of their disputes, supposedly to protect his sister but that only pissed Lindsey off," Sharon said. "Especially since Lindsey never pulled Greg or Jeff into their drama. Richard did get pulled into it but that's only because Richard lived with them and it was hard for him not to be pulled into the center of it but other than that, Stevie and Lindsey never wanted anyone in the middle of their breakup. If Chris gets wind of all this, I'm betting he'll try to find where they live and make Stevie feel guilty for her choice to become a vampire." 

"But that's just it, it's her choice," Amy said. "I don't know if I'd do it but everyone is entitled to make their own choices in life and her brother should respect that." 

"Easier said than done," Karen said. "Chris is hardheaded. I had to deal with him after Stevie disappeared and I got to the point where I was about to punch him in the face." 

"What did he do?" Sharon asked. 

"Demanding I work harder to find Stevie. That we put more police on the case. That we contact him every time there was the slightest change in the situation. I tried to accommodate him but he kept accusing me of holding things back from him, which wasn't true. Like I really knew where she was but I wasn't telling him, things like that." 

"And then you really did find out," Lucy said. 

"Yeah and I still wouldn't tell him, not after the way he treated me. Even though I've been hired as Stevie's assistant, she never treated me like that. I was pretty much a friend from the beginning but Chris is different. He acts like I'm supposed to assist him night and day, even though he's not the Nicks I report to. So because he disrespected me, I'm keeping my mouth shut and not saying a word about this." 

"I wonder if Lori will," Amy said. 

"If I know her, she will. She cares about Stevie and she would honor her request not to tell. Besides, I think she knows what Chris would do if he finds out. Not only to Stevie but he'd hit the wall if Stevie were alive and people knew and didn't tell him. I don't think Lori wants to open that can of worms." 

The other three women nodded. They made more small talk for a bit before they turned on the TV and watched it until bedtime.


End file.
